Wicked Irony
by Itonami
Summary: [Itachi x Sakura] When their paths crossed by chance, their unlikely story began with a simple command. Rated just in case.
1. Scroll One

Beginning notes: New story! I can't seem to come up with anything for Blind Vision, so I just had to pour this new idea out before I lost it. I hope to make it longer than my recent works. Hope you enjoy it more than Pianissimo!

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto.

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_Wicked Irony_

_Scroll One: __A Simple Command_

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"Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will." - Jawaharlal Nehru

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Uchiha Itachi's light footsteps swiftly carried him through the thick canopy of trees, his eyes glinting like liquid obsidian and his ears absorbing every sound, every whisper of the leaves that he passed. The air rustled slightly as he leapt from branch to branch, and he could feel it getting colder as the day passed into early evening. The leaves were painted with a golden light as the sun set behind him; he was heading east toward Fire Country. He was trying to find a certain Jinchuuriki that had been able to escape his grasp for years now, and Itachi was getting impatient with failure. He hated failure.

His black robe billowed in the breeze as he went deeper into the heart of the forest which continued to grow darker in the autumn evening. Suddenly, his keen sense of smell picked up a familiar smell: death. It hung heavily in the air like a sickening perfume as it permeated through all of the missing nin's senses, and it triggered vague memories of a massacre and a little boy begging for his life.

The scent of death grew stronger as he kept his direction eastward, and his senses twitched in hungry anticipation. Perhaps there would be something worth to test his insatiable potential. Itachi could now _feel_ the coppery stench of blood in the surrounding ambiance, but now he took greater caution as he approached the site of death. He would not be disappointed.

There was a small clearing of trees where several bloodied bodies lay scattered like a child's marble game, and blood painted the trees in a vicious crimson hue. There were more bodies around the area in the bushes which ironically contained healing properties. Itachi gazed disinterestedly at the lack of movement around him but with the alertness of a hawk, but there was hardly a sign of chakra around him.

But there definitely _was_ a glimmer of chakra somewhere.

Like hope.

Dying hope.

Curious, the Uchiha followed the trail of chakra to a small bush, and his lips almost twitched with strong urge to smirk in bemusement at the pathetic attempt to hide from him, the ultimate master of genjutsu. He reached out with a manicured hand—his nails were painted a deep violet color—to touch the convincing green leaves.

Before he could lay his hand on it, it suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the true form of the genjutsu caster, a girl in her early twenties. Odd, pink hair was matted around her humble face, and the most striking emerald eyes glared at him with a confused jumble of fear and hatred. The forehead protector on her head bore the signature of Konoha much like his own, maybe without the scratch across the symbol. She was desperately injured in both legs but she dragged her broken body away from him with her arms while clutching a kunai in one hand. She looked like an injured animal, ready to lash out at anything that seemed to threaten her weakened, vulnerable state.

Her hair was the first thing that stood out to his memories, and being a genius, he could recall the time when he had seen the same color on a little girl. "I have seen you before." Itachi said in a monotone while measuring his words carefully in his head. Something told him that it was imperative that he know who she was. Strange, his hand did not even reach for his kunai.

The girl bared her white teeth in what seemed to be a grimace. "You're Uchiha Itachi."

Oh, so she knew him. Did his name strike fear into her heart like the rest of the pathetic excuses for shinobi? "What is your name?" He asked, pretending to ignore her comment.

She gripped her weapon tighter, as if she knew that it was the only thing between her and him, the notorious Uchiha Itachi. "Haruno Sakura." Her voice was quiet and he could hear a slight tremor in it.

Itachi could now place her face with her name. He liked the sound of it; Sakura, cherry blossoms. They were his favorite in the spring. "The Godaime's apprentice." He had once met her before a long time ago, standing beside the Jinchuuriki and the Copy Ninja, the fool who could precariously wield the Uchiha bloodline limit to some effect. She had been a young, and now her hair had grown longer than he remembered. But those eyes had not changed; still as sharp as a blade and glittering as if they were comprised of millions of tiny emeralds.

He had heard of her, this Haruno Sakura. Her skills as a medic was notable and her chakra control distinctly perfect. She was trained by Konoha's fifth Hokage, thus the title of apprentice was added to her long list of credentials. However, the most important fact that he knew about her was that she was the closest friend of Uzumaki Naruto. The Uchiha now slowly raked his eyes over her battered body, noting the many injuries but also the soft curves under her ANBU uniform. Sakura pulled her arms closer to her chest, but he did not move. He watched her grow restless and nervous under his gaze.

"What are you doing here?" She spat bitterly. She stared fiercely into his blank eyes.

_You must not show your fear. You must not show your fear._

Itachi smelled the fear radiating from her, along with her sweat and blood. "You sound anxious to die."

"I'm not afraid to die." She said stiffly as her body tensed at the calm drawl of his rich voice.

"But you are afraid of me." He stepped closer and she backed away further on her hands. "You are afraid of what I can do to you, just like what I did to your sensei."

At the sudden mention of Kakashi Hatake, the wounded animal fired up again, her eyes burning with a spirit that diminished her fear. "Don't talk about my sensei like you know him."

The Uchiha's eyes rested on her broken legs. The gruesome sight did not affect him in the slightest. "What was your mission? This," he lightly gestured to the massacre in the forest, "does not seem fit for what an ANBU does."

Sakura felt her legs sear with pain when she shifted her body the wrong way. She let out a gasp but answered him all the same. "An ANBU does what she is told."

Itachi's dark eyes darkened as the sky above them dimmed. "That was why I hated Konoha, with all of its rules of being a shinobi. Our gifts are not meant for the conformity of the rest…Sakura-chan." He watched her flinch involuntarily to the intimate suffix added after her name.

The dying hope flickered even weaker.

The fire in her eyes seemed to die away at his words. He sensed that her body was starting to shut down in order to avoid the intense pain throughout her body. Her chakra, depleted and almost gone, futilely tried to revive her body. Itachi guessed that she had been assigned a mission with a team, but she had been separated from the others, and had run into the rogue nin later.

_You must not show your fear. _

Itachi looked at the slumped form of the young woman on the ground. Her chakra levels were ominously low; she had battled the rogue nins with a self-sacrificing ferocity. An interesting character. He was amused at her attempts to show bravery in the face of Death himself. However, the prospect of discovering the Godaime's own apprentice could be beneficial to him. There was not enough chakra in her to heal those badly broken bones, so he would have to set them in place if there were to be any hope in her walking again.

Gathering up the lithe form of the kunoichi in his arms, Itachi continued his journey east toward Fire Country. He calculated that she would have to sleep for at least two days in order for her body to fully recover to its normal levels, and the nearest shelter was about a day's travel away. Easily, he picked up speed and paced himself continuously until the sun again rose to its highest point of the day.

The forest was less dense in the area, and there was a small village that was isolated for there was not another town for another day's worth of travel in all directions. It was a cozy, settled place, its buildings modest and without much decoration to them. The inn was fittingly called "The Inn and Pub" but business was slow due to harvest time in the fields, so Itachi got a room virtually unnoticed by nosy villagers.

Their room was clean and humble, a futon and some tacky blankets folded neatly in a corner. The hardwood floor was another nice convenience; blood was easier to clean on the wood floor than carpet. The silent Uchiha temporarily put her down in order to spread the futon on the floor.

"Why have you brought me here?" A slightly groggy voice asked him.

Itachi turned to face her with the same unreadable look in his eyes. "Go back to sleep."

Sakura squinted at him with a half-conscious look that told him that she was having difficulty focusing. There was a silence as they locked gazes.

"Train me."

The command was blunt enough, but Itachi still blinked at her words. The two words put together did not form a request or a suggestion, but rather a mandate. Sakura's tone, though slightly slurred and mumbled, was strong enough to suggest that she knew exactly what she was saying to the dangerous S-Class missing-nin.

She was still crazy though.

"Train me." It was louder, stronger this time. She emphasized her meaning by accenting the "r" and the "m". The clarity of her demand almost made Itachi want to smile.

"No."

"I command you."

_Command?_ That triggered something in his mind and, instinctively, he reached out to grab her by the throat and pin her against the wall of the little room. It echoed with a dull thud at the impact. His eyes spun wildly and a look of madness passed over his face before he wiped it off to leave it as blank as it was before.

"No one commands me." He breathed, only to watch her delicate lips form a half-sneer, and her eyes drooped half-open as they seemed unable to focus well.

"Not even your Akatsuki leader?"

Itachi felt the anger die away as he realized what she was talking about. He leaned down closer to put his mouth right next to her delicate ear and whispered, "There are many horrible things I can do to your mind, Sakura-chan. Training you would mean the end of your humanity."

He watched the words take their effect, but she seemed resilient to his threats. His stomach shuddered in a curious curiosity.

"If I can bring Sasuke-kun back, then I can let it end."

He pulled away—his body protested against moving from her warm one—and let her sit up on her hands. "Foolish girl." He said softly before he unzipped his robe and discarded it on the floor beside him. Briefly closing his eyes, he opened them again to reveal their bloody depths, forcing her to instantly fall asleep. Itachi picked her up and lay her down on the futon.

Next, he turned his attention back to her broken legs. Applying chakra, he pushed the bones back into place and set them accordingly. He easily cast a paralyzing jutsu on her body so that she could not move. His mind distantly acknowledged that she would be uncomfortable, but he dismissed the thought as insignificant.

The Uchiha sat against the wall near the door and observed the sleeping kunoichi. He would have to go find Kisame before she woke up; he could watch her while Itachi thought about what to do next. It was a rare chance to be able to have the Godaime's apprentice at the Akatsuki's mercy, and it was an opportunity that the cunning Uchiha was not willing to miss. There were many advantages now that he thought about it: influence, power, and perhaps an answer to his failing eyesight.

He could easily manipulate that particular kunoichi since she had poor control over her emotions. It was a simple matter of playing all of his cards right, and his trump was Sasuke. Itachi had not predicted this minor twist in fate—never could he have guessed that his foolish little brother would actually become useful to him even after he killed off Orochimaru—but he saw too many benefits to pass up the chance to further his own potential.

There were not too many things that Uchiha Itachi left alive, but then again, it was better to be dead than to be alive in his ruthless hands.

It was late afternoon, and while the kunoichi slept, Itachi went out to look for his partner in the forest. Pulsing out his chakra in small amounts throughout the woods not unlike a radar, he waited for another discreet response. The chakra pulses could travel for miles on end, and it was an effective way to communicate to his partner. Only Kisame could notice the signature after being with Itachi for so long.

He waited. If Kisame was far away, it would take him time to arrive. However, Kisame had not been far away; after he was done massacring a group of jounin, he had also been traveling east to Fire Country where they had agreed to regroup. Within a couple of hours, his large, cloaked form could be seen as he quickly approached the ever patient Uchiha.

"You got something?"

No time for greetings.

Itachi nodded. "It seems we have a new development. Come." He led the way back to the inn room.

Upon opening the door, several kunai were launched at Itachi's head, and he successfully dodged all of them, but the last one nicked his pale cheek. He did not flinch. The Uchiha lazily moved his eyes so that they were upon the awakened kunoichi, and he felt a dull sense of surprise register in his system. She was awake.

"You broke the jutsu?"

Sakura was still unable to move due to her legs, but she was sitting up on the futon, her eyes clear and bright as they stared at him in determined defiance. "It wasn't a high level paralyzing jutsu."

Itachi stepped into the room and Kisame followed, whose presence seemed to fill up the entire confines of the room. Emerald eyes widened at the familiar sight of his enormous sword and the bluish face with jagged, white teeth.

"You best get out of those clothes. A lady was kind enough to lend a dress that belonged to her daughter." Itachi threw a white bundle in her direction. She caught it; unable to hide her surprise at his generosity, but surprise quickly gave way into stubborn pride and indignation, which caused her to cross her arms in front of her chest and turn her head away.

He stared at her childishness with a mixed feeling of annoyance and amusement and he almost sighed. "You will do as I say."

The Uchiha watched her eye the dress in with longing but also contempt. "Then you will excuse me. I would like some privacy." She said curtly.

He nodded and back out of the room with Kisame in tow. The latter scoffed. "What the hell? Who the hell is that?"

"Haruno Sakura."

Kisame was silent as he tried to remember the name. It sounded familiar enough. "Oh, I've heard of her in Mist Village. She saved fifty people from some kind of poison a couple of months ago."

"So her reputation does precede her."

The shark-like shinobi growled deep in his throat. "I guess, but why is she with you?"

"Interestingly enough, I stumbled upon her after she fought about twenty-five rogue nins. Broken legs, possibly some fractures." He exhaled slowly. "She wants me to train her."

There was a stunned silence. "She wants training?" Kisame let out a derisive laugh. "She's crazier than I thought. I figured as much when she threw those kunais at you, but she's really asking for it."

"I think we should indulge her for the time being. The leader should be pleased. She could be a valuable asset."

"How? The leader won't appreciate interruption. We still haven't got the Kyuubi yet, and the leader's getting impatient." Kisame twisted his ugly face into a grimace.

Itachi put his hand on the door and said very quietly and simply, "She is our key to Naruto-kun."

Kisame smiled.

The duo entered the room again to find Sakura in the white dress that pleasantly showed off her shoulders. She restlessly fidgeted with the hem of her dress and there was a menacing silence that filled the room. With a final burst of courage, her bright eyes met his red eyes.

"Train me, Uchiha Itachi."

Kisame was mildly surprised at the firmness of her determined tone, and he glanced at the impassive man standing next to him warily. Another silence passed.

"Why do you want me to train you?" Itachi was trying to determine what was going on in her thoughts as he looked into her eyes. Was it a trap? Was she planning something? But her eyes were innocent of all blame or fault, and his curiosity intensified.

Sakura started to fidget with her dress again. Her expression was uneasy while his remained emotionless.

"I need to get stronger. Maybe then, I can bring Sasuke back home."

"I see, and then what?"

The silence was at its highest tension now.

"I don't know." She breathed out in a defeated manner.

The Uchiha gave her time to think about it. "You have no ultimate goal; therefore, getting stronger is of no use to you."

Sakura glared at him. "My goal is Sasuke. That's all I need. He's reason enough to get stronger."

"You seek help from the most hated person in his life. _I_ made him into what he is now. Do you understand?"

The rosy-haired kunoichi shook her head vigorously, denying his claim. "No, that's not true. You didn't make Sasuke."

"Quite the contrary. His life's purpose is to kill me because I killed his parents."

"Your parents." She said shortly, cuttingly.

He acknowledged her comment with a slight bow of his head forward. "True, but I never truly considered them to be a part of my life. They merely hindered me from my ambition."

Her deep, green eyes shined with an earnestness that he did not understand. "But your mother gave _birth _to you. You wouldn't exist if it weren't for them."

"They served their purpose."

Sakura outwardly flinched at his monotonous tone and heartless words. Here was a man who believed that his parents were only there to create him and bring him into the world. No love, no emotion, or even respect. They were just beings with a sole purpose of giving him life so that he could take theirs.

Itachi could see the turmoil taking place in her expressive eyes. He stepped closer to her and crouched in order to meet her at an eye level. "If I train you, you will be broken. I _will_ break you. Are you ready for that?"

She gulped and a drop of sweat slid down the side of her face as she felt her skin chill at his dangerous words, and he watched her inner struggle to overcome her fears. She raised her chin to squarely meet his face. "I'm ready."

As if satisfied with her answer, the Uchiha straightened to his full height and glanced at his partner before looking down at her again. "Then, you should get rest and recover. Whenever you have your chakra back, you should heal those legs. "

Itachi sat against the wall again and motioned for Kisame to follow his example. Sakura stared at him with a look of disbelief, but he calmly ignored it. Manipulating her was easier than he thought. She was an easy creature to predict, and he knew how much she wanted to get stronger. He had also felt that urge, that need. It was insatiable, though her reason to get stronger bothered him a little bit. If he agreed to train her, it would be easier to keep her there with them instead of having a complete prisoner situation that could get ugly, considering her reputation as a kunoichi. Things would get simplified, and Itachi did appreciate simplicity sometimes. Without worrying about as hostage, he could instead focus on how to lure the Kyuubi to where they were.

However, something began to nag at his mind; something about her determination to bring Sasuke…

The night presented itself to them; its companion as the moon, and the forest outside was filled with the lazy sounds of the nocturnal animals.

Itachi's mind never truly slept at all. While his body recuperated, his mind then wandered to the prisoner herself. Her strange pink hair, her pale skin, and those animated eyes. He had never quite seen such eyes such as hers. He had looked into the eyes of many of his victims, but they never had such spirit, but maybe that was because they realized that they were going to die. Itachi wondered why Sasuke was so important to her, why she would do anything and everything to bring him back to Konoha. He highly doubted that his little brother would ever go back, but he could not deny that he found her determination admirably loyal.

However, his mind soon turned to draw out the plans for the prisoner that had yet to realize that she was indeed his prisoner. Yes, she was naïve in every sense of the word to believe that she had some kind of control over the situation, to think that she had _made_ the all-powerful Uchiha Itachi bow to her command. But, he would allow such insolent thoughts for now until the time came to break her.

Kisame was snoring lightly beside him, his sword still in his lethal, twitching grasp, and Itachi took the liberty to glance at the sleeping kunoichi again. The moonlight cast a silvery spell on her face, her heavy lashes fluttering lazily and her mouth slightly open as she breathed.

"Don't look at me like that." She whispered with her eyes still closed.

"How long have you been awake?"

Sakura opened her eyes, and the moonlight made them a silvery green now. Striking.

"Only a couple of minutes. Why aren't you sleeping?"

Itachi closed his own eyes. "I don't sleep often."

The young woman sat up, her light blanket slipping from her upper body like rain down a windowpane, and she ran a slender hand through her long tresses. His gaze followed her ever subtle move. "Neither do I. I always have nightmares."

He remained where he was and watched her wince when she tried to move her legs. Her chakra levels were still lagging, and she could not heal her legs yet. However, Itachi was satisfied. She could not leave, she was willing to cooperate, and she was going to lead the Kyuubi right to them. He was going to play all of his cards right to lure the other player, namely Haruno Sakura, into betting against him. But his trump was going to break her whether she knew it or not. He could make his little brother to do anything; he controlled Sasuke's predictable actions. It did not matter that Sasuke had "Hebi" with him because anything Itachi did, Sasuke followed like a blind mouse to the lair of a snake.

He had to balance between his ruthless character and the merciful side to him. He could not risk scaring her away; in fact, he had to do the opposite. Itachi had to draw her to him and gain that naïve trust by whatever means necessary. He had his share of women in his life, all of them witless and pathetic, clinging to every handsome man that had the misfortune of crossing their paths. He was able to charm if it need be, and his charm almost always proved to be as deadly as his eyes.

Sakura lay back down on the futon and she tried to get comfortable. Itachi watched until she dozed again before resting his tired eyes himself.

All the while, Kisame wondered why Itachi did not kill her as soon as he saw her in the forest.

Ending notes: Reviews?


	2. Scroll Two

Beginning notes: Thanks for the reviews. I edited the first chapter. Review and tell me how you want the story to go. I noticed that I get lots of hits, but reviews are scarce. My readers that review, you are awesome.

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_  
Wicked Irony_

_Scroll Two: __Crazy_

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The new morning brought with it a dreary cloud cover which threatened a thunderstorm, but Itachi continued to train in the forest. He had been practicing for over two hours now, but he was not tired yet though his body was anticipating the cooling effects of rain. His skin was chilled due to the excessive exercise and he saw the need for a shower. He had seen a public bath near the inn and it was short journey, but then the heavens opened up and sweet rain began to fall.

He stood still in the middle of his temporary training grounds, letting rivulets of water drip down his hair, his face, and his body. He allowed himself to enjoy the moment of peace until he was suddenly aware of another presence of chakra behind him. Turning around sharply, he saw Sakura standing in the rain, her light pink hair turning into a darker hue due to the water. Her white dress was soaked and he could see her feminine curves through the translucent fabric. She was watching him with those expressive eyes again, determination smoldering in their depths.

"How are you feeling?" Itachi asked, his soft voice automatically sounding like he cared.

"Better. I healed my legs." She said shortly.

He upturned his face to the sky, his Sharingan able to distinguish every single drop of rain as it fell down. Soon, he grew disinterested in the easy task so he closed his eyes. "You shouldn't push yourself."

"Don't underestimate me." There it was again. Another command.

He drew nearer to her.

"My apologies." He said before taking off his robe and flinging it around her shoulders. "You will catch a cold."

Sakura looked down at the black robe in ill-concealed distaste; she had always hated the red-lined clouds in the black background. It reminded her of the nightmares she had whenever she dared to sleep. The expression of disgust was not lost on Itachi.

"You may take it off if it is not to your liking."

She made no response. She seemed to wonder what to do, but the rain began to make the air colder. Without another thought, she drew the cloak closer to her body. Itachi watched her with his usual emotionless face.

"When are you going to train me?" She asked as they walked back to the inn. He could hear her voice slightly shake in apprehension.

Itachi did not answer right away. It would be most fitting to take her to the Akatsuki headquarters for the maximum amount of security available, but there would be no place for her to stay except for the dark interior of the quarters. Should his plan fail, it would attract unwanted attention from the other countries, especially Konoha. Perhaps nothing could ever come from a failure, but he was not willing to risk anything. Where else could he take her? He needed her close by so that the Kyuubi would come for her. By promising to train her, he had already bound her to him, and it would serve his best interest to keep her hope alive for the time being.

"Soon, when we find a suitable place to begin." He answered vaguely.

Sakura would not be satisfied with such an answer. "I'm not stupid enough to readily agree to something that is not guaranteed."

"That is wise of you." He did not wish to say anything else.

They arrived at their room, and Sakura sat down on the other end, away from Itachi and Kisame. She lightly shivered in spite of herself as the rain torrents increased further. She did not like rain. Thunder boomed across the sky, and the sound reverberated through her body, temporarily paralyzing her. Itachi saw her stiffen like a corpse and her eyes widen out of fear. Lightning flashed in a great burst of light, and he unmistakably heard a small squeak emit from her as she ducked her head closer to her body so that his cloak partially covered her ears and eyes.

She was afraid of thunderstorms.

Itachi felt his interest spark again at the sight of someone's weakness. He never had created a thunderstorm in the horribly real world of Tsukiyomi, the island of the bloody moon. He could use it to break her, and indeed, how hard she will break. His senses tingled in anticipation.

He rose from his end of the room—Kisame was watching the kunoichi's moves carefully, lest they show signs of threatening his partner—and crouched in front of her quivering form.

"Are you scared of the storm, Sakura?" He whispered into her ear. She trembled and managed to nod.

Another thunder crashed outside.

Instinctively, she threw herself at the man before her in an effort to hide from the storm raging outside. Her ear was pressed against his firm, flat chest, and she focused on the sounds of his steady heartbeat to block out the sound of the thunder.

Lightning flashed.

Itachi reached for a blanket and pulled it over the both of them. He felt her slender arms wrap around his waist for support under the layer of protection, one more thing that shielded her from the storm.

She smelled of fresh strawberries and her breath was hot on her chest as she breathed quickly. He felt her tighten her grips around him and gasp every time the thunder boomed, but she was overall more relaxed than she had been before. Itachi caught the odd look that Kisame was giving him, but he shook his head. It was all part of the plan.

The storm gradually died away as the afternoon approached and a glimmer of sunshine peeked from the dissipating clouds. The Uchiha slowly pulled back the covers to find her fast asleep on his lap, her hair fallen over her face. He frowned. This was unexpected.

Uchiha Itachi calmly stretched his arms, gently jostling her awake. Her emerald eyes fluttered open and blinked a couple of times, uncomprehending, before she finally realized that she was sprawled on his lap. Blushing furiously and angrily, she scrambled away him with a mean look of hatred and embarrassment.

"The storm has passed." He stated softly.

"Yes, I can see that, thank you." Sakura snapped.

"I have decided to stay here for the time being. There seems to be no threat of being found and the forest offers satisfactory training grounds." Itachi said. He shot a warning look at Kisame before he said anything.

Sakura thought for a moment before she nodded. "Sounds good."

He had to stop his lips from smiling. She was far too easy to manipulate.

Kisame made a deep, protesting noise in the back of his throat but otherwise, did not voice his dissent. The Uchiha watched her facial expressions carefully, unwilling to miss anything that passed over her ivory face. She seemed unsure, but eventually, her desire to bring back Sasuke predictably made up her mind to stay in order to receive her training.

Itachi wondered how long he should wait until he sent word to Konoha that he had in his possession their famous medic-nin. A few weeks could have the desired effect that he was looking for: long enough for the Hokage to worry, but not enough to send anyone after her yet. Until then, he would train her, make her wholly dependent on him, and then eventually break her mind.

"So, when do we start?" She asked in an almost cheery voice.

Kisame let out a sardonic scoff. "You don't understand at all, kunoichi. You're going to risk your life every time you train with him. He's not like anyone you've trained with; he's not going to care if you're tired or injured. He's going to push you until you're done."

Sakura face was grim. "I understand. I wouldn't expect anything less from an Uchiha."

Itachi looked at her in amusement. "It sounds like you know a lot about the Uchiha clan."

Her eyes became sad. "Your brother has too many traits that he's inherited from you."

His nerves became like steel. He did not want to talk about his family. "My family will be a forbidden subject in my presence."

The corners of her pale ruby lips twitched slightly in a smile. "So you do have a conscience after all."

His spinning red eyes sent her the message that she was crossing an invisible boundary in the sand between them. "Conscience, Sakura-chan? I think not. Talking about one's family is revealing one's weakness directly."

He saw her visibly recoil when she noticed the suffix at the end of her name again. Indeed, he did not mean it in any intimate way, but rather its psychological impact upon her his only interest. Perhaps it unnerved her that he called her name in such a personal manner, and his mind sickeningly liked the way she grimaced each time he spoke to her.

Kisame caught his attention from the corner of his eye. "What is it, Kisame?"

"We should feed her."

There was an awkward silence.

Her stomach voiced its agreement.

She blushed heatedly and Itachi smirked. "It's best we start her on something weak. She looks like she hasn't eaten in days."

Sakura got up to follow Kisame out of the door, but he blocked her at the doorway. "You will stay with Itachi-san. He will watch over you."

The Uchiha felt her spirit drop a notch and she huffed indignantly before seating herself at her end of the room. He took out several dull kunai and began to sharpen them in a steady, rhythmic fashion, the noise of steel against stone filling the room with its metallic ringing. His movement caught the attention of her brilliant eyes.

"Would you like to keep yourself occupied, Sakura?"

She hesitated at first but she nodded eventually. The kunoichi reluctantly got up and sat down against the wall beside him, and he handed her a kunai and a special stone to sharpen it. She took it from him—her hand lightly brushed against his—and began her work. Her delicate hands were skilled at the mundane work, quite precise and firm. Itachi returned to his own kunai.

"You're different than I imagined you to be." She said quietly after a long silence.

He continued to sharpen but he wanted to hear what she had to say. "How did you imagine me to be?"

"Crazy."

His thin lips formed a small, sarcastic smile. "And you don't think I am?"

"You're more than crazy." She replied, her eyes never daring to leave the weapon in her hand.

Itachi lowered his smiling lips right next to her ear and gently whispered, "I know."

She jolted at the contact of his hot breath against her face and she drew away from him. "I wonder if that will mean that I will become crazy after you train me."

"It is your choice, but being crazy and gifted isn't a bad thing." He said as he sat back with his face tilted toward the ceiling.

When he noticed her silence, Itachi turned his head and watched her eyes widen at his words, but fierce resolve burned in her eyes. "I won't be crazy like you."

"Perhaps if you were to be as insane as I am, Sasuke would be obsessed with you also." He said, and he enjoyed that look of surprise and doubt wash over her face.

She scoffed at the possibility, but he could see that she was still weighing the truth behind his words. He wanted to scare her, to see that fear pool into her eyes. "If I killed you right now, do you think my younger brother would care?"

It was not a rhetoric question. He waited for her answer.

"I think he would, in a small way." Her voice reflected uncertainty, even though her tone was flinty and hard.

"If he knew that you were with me right now, do you think he would come for you?"

He liked the deadened hush between them. Finally, she whispered, "No."

Her eyes dulled into a dim forest green. The Uchiha decided stop the torment then. It would not serve him well if he broke her will too soon. He just wanted her to ponder on his questions. If he had her figured out correctly, those questions would merely strengthen her resolve.

"Are you done?" He asked while holding out his hand.

She looked up with those lifeless eyes, and Itachi almost frowned. He liked those eyes expressive and moody, so seeing them coarse and emotionless displeased him. Sakura handed him the sharpened kunai into his expectant hand without another word.

Before Itachi could speak again, Kisame returned with a bag of food in each hand, looking grumpy and irritated. "Stupid people want to sell me everything."

The food was carefully organized into meals for Sakura's health. He gave her an orange first which she slowly ate without much protest. Fruits helped her gain her appetite back, and later in the day, they gave her more solid foods to eat. The carbohydrates came last. It took painstaking hours for her to eat so that her body did not go into shock after functioning for so long without food in her stomach. Itachi made sure to feed her water from a flask to keep her well hydrated.

Into the evening, they allowed her to take a bath in the bathhouse, and the pair of Akatsuki stood outside keeping guard. It provided an opportunity for Kisame to talk to his stoic partner.

"You're really planning on training her?"

"She is no threat to us."

The shark-man shrugged. "How long are we going to do this?"

"As long as it takes." Itachi glanced at the door when he heard soft splashing on the other side of it.

"What's taking her so damn long?" Kisame snarled.

The Uchiha merely gave him a ghost of a smile. "I gave her a rubber duck to play with."

The door of the bathhouse suddenly cracked open and he could see a pair of glimmering eyes staring at him shyly. "Excuse me for a moment." She stepped out fully clad in a towel around her body while she held her dress in her arms. With her head down, she walked quickly back to their room, trying to avoid them as much as possible. Amusement glinted in Itachi's eyes as they stared after her.

Itachi and Kisame took their time getting back, and their plan was set by the time they got back to the room, where Sakura was fully dressed. She sat with her back facing them, her chin resting upon her knees that were drawn up to her chest.

"Training will start tomorrow. I will find you some pants and a shirt." The Uchiha said to her back. She did not reply.

Kisame's hand gripped the sword on his back. Itachi silenced his restlessness by a stern look. They sat down on the floor and the Uchiha exhaled audibly. "We will need to now make sure we understand each other. You will not go out of this room unless one of us is escorting you. You are not to contact anyone out of this room, ever. If you choose to disobey me, there will be consequences."

She visibly stiffened at his dangerous words as they settled in the space between them. He allowed her to decide for herself what those consequences would be; often enough, his prisoners would generally scare themselves more just imagining what they were even without him demonstrating or hinting at them. There was no reason why she would be any different.

However, she did not reply audibly. Sakura still sat facing the lone window, watching the night with a forced sort of interest. Itachi was growing impatient for some sort of reaction. He wanted her to fight back, be sassy and bold, to make it known to him that she was a slave to her own emotions.

She stayed irritatingly silent.

The Uchiha and Kisame conversed in low voices while she dozed in her curled position. Itachi glanced her way, and noticed the uncomfortable position at which she was trying to fall asleep. He sighed and got up to walk over to her. He laid out the futons before he put a cold hand on her shoulder, jerking her awake. She looked up at his face with round eyes that showed shock before they became listless again when she recognized who he was.

"Come, sleep on the bed. You will only hurt your back, and training starts tomorrow. It would be highly disadvantageous for you to start off with a bad back." He said quietly.

Anger flared like a sudden lit match, and she wrenched herself from his capable hands, uncaring if she unwittingly invited the Uchiha's curiosity. "I don't need anything from you. I am able to take care of myself."

"We will see if you can say the same thing after training tomorrow." He said, making a calm mockery out of her rashness.

Sakura glared at him as best she could. Itachi merely stared back with an indifference that never seemed to waver. "Sasuke will hate me if he finds out."

"Then you should keep it a secret." He said as the next logical thing.

"This is between us."

Itachi was amused. "You make it sound like you will get a chance to tell someone of our encounter."

Sakura's eyes grew wide at his words. "What?"

"Nothing. You may find out later."

He watched confusion spread throughout her features, and wondered how a person could be so naïve in spirit. It was almost refreshing to see. It was so rare to see such innocence in a shinobi. She had uniquely retained most of it even while serving as a medic.

"Why did you ask me to train you? Continuing to study with the Godaime would have been beneficial." Itachi asked softly, as Sakura's former burst of attitude died away.

"I learn mostly medical jutsu and healing techniques from her. There is no one available to train me in the taijutsu and the other areas. It was getting tougher for me to serve ANBU missions. I hated it that feeling of inferiority in my team. If couldn't keep up with them, then how could I keep up with Sasuke-kun?"

The Uchiha retracted mentally from the mention of his brother. "Why ask the man who he hates the most?"

Sakura barely smiled, but it was visible to his keen eyes. "Because no matter what they say, you are strong. If I learned from one of the best, then I have a chance at impacting Sasuke-kun."

It gave him an odd sense of satisfaction to hear her say that he was strong. It was strangely gratifying to hear someone acknowledge his potential, but he also felt that she could have used a better word than just "strong." Maybe he was being too picky. He looked at how her eyes shimmered every time she spoke of his foolish little brother. Her voice almost radiated awe whenever she said his name with that intimate suffix at the end.

It drove him crazy.

Crazy. Mad. Insane. Wild.

He wanted that name out of her vocabulary, but he had to indulge her for a little while.

The Uchiha breathed in a silent, calming breath of air, and with it, he inhaled her scent of strawberries. He suddenly craved strawberries.

"Kisame, we should find some strawberries." He said almost immediately.

The addressed shark-man frowned deeply. "What the hell is that for? Why the hell do you want strawberries now?"

"Then we will go find some tomorrow. It will be good for her to eat them after training."

Uchiha Itachi stilled as his keen ears picked up rustling outside of their room. Almost instantly, the other two noticed his change of air, and Sakura watched him out of pure fascination. Itachi release more chakra around his ear muscles in order to enhance his hearing, and he heard low whispers outside.

Kisame crouched silently on his haunches while Itachi noiselessly slipped out three kunai from his sleeves. The kunoichi did not dare to move. In the growing darkness of the evening, Itachi signaled instructions wordlessly with a hand to the other Akatsuki: Go right. I take left. Outside, Stone-nin. Kill them all.

Horrible, jagged teeth shone a dull gray in the ever decreasing light. He disappeared without another sound. Itachi cast one last look at Sakura before disappearing to the left in order to set up their classic Akatsuki ambush.

The night was young and the moon was full, and Itachi saw two Stone-nin outside of the inn conversing in low tones to each other. He saw Kisame swiftly moving in for the kill. Itachi soon followed after, and before any sound of surprise escaped either of the enemy, they were dead. The Uchiha's victim collapsed on the ground, his blood splattered in the pattern of a stroke of a kunai across his neck. Kisame had simply decapitated his prey, even with his enormous sword still bound.

"Damn, I forgot to take the binding off." Kisame growled with a twisted pout as he kicked the lifeless body of the dead shinobi.

Itachi gazed dispassionately at their two victims, and turned back to go into their room. It was must more interesting to interact with Sakura than it was to kill anyone. Her eyes held more mysteries for him than the art of killing an enemy.

He entered the room through the door and was mildly surprised at what he found.

Sakura had nodded off into what seemed like a fitful sleep, her brows furrowed toward the middle. She lay curled in the bed, and he was strangely tempted to keep watch over her while she slumbered.

This was crazy. Absolutely crazy.

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Ending notes: Another chapter finished. Relatively quick update. 


	3. Scroll Three

Beginning notes: Another chapter up. Enjoy and review! Thank you for all the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto.

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_Wicked Irony_

_Scroll Three: Emotion_

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His interesting kunoichi was already awake and preparing to train when the sun just began to peek over the horizon, illuminating the sky a soft pinkish orange. Itachi opened his tired eyes, and found her standing before him with her hands on her hips, glaring at what she deemed to be his tardiness to begin her training.

Sighing, the Uchiha obliged and got to his feet, and reached for his Akatsuki robe, only to have it taken away from his hands. Sakura matched his eyes. "You won't need it. It will only hinder you."

Wordlessly, Itachi still slipped it on and decided to leave Kisame in his well-feigned sleep, and led the way out of the room. He stopped by a clothing store in order to provide her with pants and a shirt for their training session. The store was old and smelled of moth balls and ginger, the latter of which was the strongest. He hated ginger. It was what his mother liked to put in her cooking, and he hated his mother, so it was the next logical thing to hate ginger.

"Here."

The clothes were rather coarse to the touch, but he tossed them to her anyway. Sakura, almost gratefully, smiled and quickly put them on when they reached the clearing in the forest, their designated training area. The Uchiha did notice that the clothes were a size too large, but Sakura adjusted the hems of her pants and shirt sleeves accordingly.

"I can't guarantee that you won't get injured. As a promising medic, I expect you to deal well with the wounds." He said as he walked around her once.

Sakura's lips lifted into a small smirk. "I can't guarantee I will heal you if you get injured."

That remark only served his amusement. Oh, Itachi wanted her to bleed by his hands, bleed until there was nothing left, but he had to restrain himself for now. "I'm afraid you will have to wait another day to see me injured. Today, I will be focusing on taijutsu."

He did not elaborate, but he closed his eyes and slid his feet into a simple stance, his right out in front of his body and bent at the knee slightly while his left was behind him also bent to give him solid balance. Sakura imitated him easily, and waited from him to show her the next move.

Itachi did the moves slowly—right foot kick, down, jump, left foot kick, twist down, using right foot as leverage—but he assumed that she was memorizing the sequence of moves already; it just came to her ability to execute the moves capably. The sequences got harder and harder for her body to physically do, more complicated and faster. She was breathing hard by the time she tried the second to last sequence of the day for the forty-third time.

"Again." He commanded, his eyes dispassionate and emotionless as they observed her struggles.

Her legs were shaking, and he knew it was only a matter of minutes before she could move them no more. The mid-day sun beat down on them through the trees, but Sakura seemed to endure it well. She set her jaw against her body's protests and commenced the difficult sequence step by step.

Right arm punch, left foot side kick, front flip, kick around, crouch, right foot kick low, kick up, jump high, twist—

Unable to keep balance when a searing pain went through her ankle, she fell down towards the earth, but Itachi easily caught her. Sakura struggled to get out of his arms, and he eased her down, feet first, and held her steady until she could stand by herself on one leg. He was now positioned behind her, holding her by her forearms, which resulted in the two of them being closer than first anticipated. He breathed in her scent of strawberries, and she stilled, her body stiff with surprise but unable to pull away.

Neither said a word as they stood in quiet wonder at how another being's body could be so strangely nice against the other. With grim pleasure, he could feel her stomach twitch with nervousness.

"Where does it hurt? We're done for today. You have less stamina than I expected." He said softly.

Sakura wrenched away from his partial embrace and glared at him with her opulent eyes. "I'll take a brief break to heal my sprain and then we're starting again."

Itachi didn't answer, but he could sense her stinging pride with pleasure. He sat down against a tree and Sakura sat little ways from him. She kept her chakra well-circulated within her channels to keep her body fresh and less stiff from the hard exercise. She seemed very wary of her own body's weaknesses, and made sure to go over any swelling or bruise with care. Her brows were furrowed in tight concentration, and beads of sweat trickled down the side of her face and neck, creating a lush picture of temptation.

However, the Uchiha's thoughts drifted away from the reality of his world into the distraught images of his past. They were vague in his memories because he had tried hard to suppress them; he hated any recollection of his past. However, training in the forest brought him to a day when he had trained with his little brother. Sasuke had also sprained his ankle when he tried to mimic what Itachi had done. Foolish little boy.

Sasuke was always a hair away from idolizing him, the big brother, the family prodigy, and the father's favorite. Even in his hate, he knew of Itachi's prowess. Hating him for his unsurpassed power was the same thing as idolizing him for it. That made the younger Uchiha far too easy to predict and control without him realizing that he was being controlled. He was like a puppet that thought it was free to move without the puppeteer. Foolish little boy.

_I am his master_. Itachi thought smugly.

"I'm ready." An outside voice broke him away from his thoughts.

Itachi looked up lazily and nodded. "Try that taijutsu move again. When you twist, keep everything closely tucked to your body."

Sakura nodded once, her face set with unwavering determination.

He watched her try again. He had already memorized all of her tendencies by heart: she favored the use of her left hand for balance in all of the taijutsu sequences, but the right when she was working to heal something. She was also predictable like Sasuke. Predictability was going to get her killed someday. There were many chances that left her vulnerable to him, but all of them were let go by his graciousness.

It was well into the late afternoon by the time she had managed to finish all of the training. She was exhausted and could barely walk.

"There is a small river that is closer than the inn. Come, we will get refreshed there." He said. She nodded, unable to argue with his plan.

Itachi led the way, his senses keeping a sharp eye for any sign of her collapsing. Fortunately, there were none and Sakura managed to keep up with him until they arrived at the bank of the small river. The water was crystal clear and absolutely cold to her hot, exhausted body, but nothing felt better. He watched in small surprise when she immediately took off her clothes to get in the water. She waded to the middle of the stream which proved to be deep enough to flow just beneath her shoulders.

He heard a distinct sigh of relief and pleasure escape her rosy lips. Suddenly, joining her didn't seem like a bad idea, but he resisted it viciously. He stood back against a beech tree and watched her splash water on her face and neck. Itachi felt something strange in his stomach boil with a vengeance. Maybe he was just hungry. He did skip lunch.

The thought registered but he dismissed it as Sakura dipped her head back. She ran her fingers through her long strands of hair—he watched in pure fascination—and suddenly ducked her head underwater. He jerked from the tree, thinking that she was going to escape down river, but she soon broke through the surface closer to the bank before he took a course of action. He almost let out a sigh of relief. Of course, she wouldn't be stupid enough to try to run away.

"Thinking about joining me in the water?" She asked coldly.

He smirked lightly. "Is that an invitation?"

She sniffed and turned away, crossing her arms over her chest shyly. "No, but standing there like that makes you look like you want to jump in."

"I do like to keep clean and odor-free." He said, crouching by the edge of the water. He dipped a finger to test the temperature. It was cold. "You might catch a cold if you stay in there too long."

Itachi unzipped his Akatsuki robe and held it out at arm's length for her to take. She was looking at him suspiciously, but he loosened his countenance as best he could to allow her to feel less uneasy. Eventually, she arose—an arm firmly over her chest—halfway out of the water and quickly snatched the inviting robe from his outstretched arm. It was peculiar how his feet twitched at the sight of her pale, smooth skin. She turned around to face away from him and slipped it around her shoulders. He extended his empty hand to help her out of the slippery bank, but she frostily brushed past it as if she had not seen it. He smiled.

He saw her eyes widen at his smile and his mind momentarily sighed at the common misunderstanding that he was someone who was without emotions, always stoic and always angry. It wasn't that these were lies—he was always emotionless and fierce in battle—but he did know how to twist his face to show varying degrees of emotion from time to time when he felt like it. Perhaps Kisame was the only who knew that Itachi showed amusement due to the constant time spent in his presence.

"You've never smiled like that before." She said softly as she turned away from him after she was safely on the grass.

"Is that so wrong?"

Sakura paused and sat down on a small boulder protruding from the grass. "A person like you shouldn't smile. Not after killing his own parents."

The smile vanished from his face and he stared at her with an icy, impassive face. "I believe I told you not mention my parents ever again."

"Didn't you love them at all?" She blurted out without heeding his warning, her eyes sparkling with pity. The question made his head pound, and he gripped his hands into tight fists to restrain his anger.

"No."

"Not even your mother? She must have made some kind of impact. She must have loved—"

His body moved on its own accord as he reached out to slam her heavily against a broken tree trunk—the bark splintered around her body from the impact. His hands gripped her throat tightly as if the next words that were going to come out of it were lethal. She choked and he pushed his body against her, pinning her helplessly, his eyes burning as they spun insanely: black, red, black, red…

Red, black, red, black…

His lungs were working overtime and his heart hammered like a drum in his chest. Sakura's lips turned colorless and her eyes glimmered with tears. They stared at him with such overwhelming pity that he suddenly let go of her, his breathing hard and hands trembling slightly. He swiftly stood to his full height.

"Next time, I will kill you." He said emotionlessly to her huddled form gasping for breath.

He swept away from the scene of his rare displays of true anger to go back to the inn room. He barely noticed anything as he walked through the forest and into the village. His steady footsteps eventually led him to their room where Kisame waited while eating the last piece of roasted squid on a stick.

"Where is she?" Kisame asked after he hastily swallowed the half-chewed food.

"In the forest. Go get her."

Itachi had calmed down, and his heart was back to its slow, regular rhythm, but he wondered why she had made him so angry. Ah, yes, her disobedience had made him angry. She had blatantly ignored his two previous warnings, and it was best to show her an example of what was going to happen if she disobeyed him again. She was a fool for testing his patience. He had the power to destroy anything and everything in his path, and he would not stand for a Konoha kunoichi trying to stir up his nonexistent conscience.

Her eyes saved her though. They were like windows into her heart, even when she was about to die, she was feeling sorry for him. Why would she pity him? The curiosity had made him realize that he was out of control, something that usually never happened. He was supposed to be emotionless when in his murderous mood, not someone who killed out of anger or rage. Killing was business. He always saw it that way. Killing was not a way to exact revenge, but it was a way that he could get stronger, reach another rung in the infinite ladder of potential. The incident had even surprised him, the Uchiha who was ever calculating and cunning to get his way.

Everything would have to be forgotten, and he would have to be careful around her. He had already revealed a weakness. She must not think she has the upper hand. If she did, then she would defy him continuously. Then he would have no choice but to kill her, and that would be a shame.

Kisame soon walked in with Sakura slung over his shoulder like a sack of rice, and the borrowed Akatsuki robe was much too big for her tiny form. She almost looked like a little girl who had tried on her father's pajamas only to find that it was about ten sizes too large. She was unconscious but she was still breathing. The large shinobi placed her on the futon.

"Now what?"

"We will wait." Itachi said.

They indeed waited until the blackest of nights settled, so dark that Itachi lit a candle to illuminate the room in order to observe the tired kunoichi sleeping peacefully. The color had returned to her lips and her damp hair was getting dry, but she was still recovering mentally and physically from his attack from earlier.

Sharingan eyes keenly watched her face twitch or change according to whatever she was dreaming about. Unfortunately, he could not enter her dreams without her opening her eyes. For now, he would have to wait until she woke up to see how she would react to him. Itachi silently cursed the situation. She might refuse to train with him, and thus his grasp on her will might break.

"What the hell happened out there?" Kisame asked in order to satisfy his curiosity.

The Uchiha glanced his way and smirked. "I merely disciplined her when she disobeyed me."

His partner grinned and stretched a powerful arm. "You haven't lost your touch. She was scared shitless, but it looks like you didn't use the Sharingan."

"Use the Sharingan when the same job can be done with simple force? I like to save my energy."

"As always, you are you."

Itachi smirked again. "I am who I choose to be."

A small groan reached their ears, and their eyes swiftly shifted over to where Sakura lay. Her face was twisted into an expression of pain as she stirred. Her glazed green eyes blinked open and her hand went up to her face to rub them. She groaned again as she now sat up on the futon, massaging her stinging neck.

"How did I get back here?" She whispered hoarsely, addressing no one in particular.

"I carried you back." Kisame answered nonchalantly without giving her a second glance.

Itachi eyed the vicious bruises forming around her neck, clearly visible now that she unzipped his Akatsuki cloak partially. "Change into your dress and heal any injuries."

Sakura looked up in shock when he spoke to her. It was apparent that she had not expected him to talk after their incident in the woods. She lowered her gaze to his solid chest and nodded. Itachi signaled to Kisame to leave the room for a brief moment, and Kisame obeyed without another word to either of them.

The kunoichi had a nervous air around her when the pair of them was alone in the room. She reached out for her dress that was latent in a neatly folded pile in the corner. "I…I'm sorry for today. I was out of line."

Itachi was pleasantly surprised. He had not expected an apology. He paused before murmuring, "Perhaps I went too far also." That was the closest he would get to an apology. Uchiha Itachi, a prized member of the Akatsuki, did not possess the gene of apology in his DNA.

"Will you…turn around so I can get dressed?" She asked softly and awkwardly.

He complied silently. He heard familiar unzipping of his cloak and then another smoother rustling sound of the dress as she put it on. He could almost see her flawless skin in his mind.

"You will accompany me for dinner tonight. Training starts again tomorrow." Itachi said as he turned back around after she was done.

Sakura looked at him in astonishment, and gaped at him for a full five seconds—he felt a twinge of impatience—before shaking herself out of her reverie. Nodding slowly, uncertainly, she got up and followed him out of the door.

They walked down the main street of the humble village in the night, and there were food vendors all around them, shouting out prices and their goods to the general public. The village was always busy at night until midnight. Lights lit up the street, and Itachi, minus his intimidating cloak, headed for a soba place to his left. Soba sounded good and filling after an intense training round. Sakura did not utter a word of protest as they sat down on a high stool.

"Two plates."

Itachi was taking in his surroundings: the thick smell of soy sauce and steam, the laughter of the customers, the bustle on the street, and Sakura's quiet breathing. His mind carefully focused on the female next to him as she stared off into space, her eyes glazed over in heavy thought.

Absently toying with long wooden chopsticks, he said, "You seem tired from the training."

The kunoichi instantly gave him a glare, her old fire back into her glimmering eyes. "It's only because I was recovering."

Itachi allowed a bemused smirk position itself upon his thin lips. "Still, your stamina lacks in taijutsu. It is no surprise you are a medic."

"Right, and no one reaches your standards, Uchiha-san." She said with sarcasm bitterly dripping from her words.

The Uchiha was almost surprised when he heard her say his name with an honorific attached to it. His smirk softened into less of a leer. "It's the first time you've said my name since you've been here."

Sakura's eyes widened and a blush crept into to brush her cheeks with color. "I—I didn't notice." She huffed, trying to hide her obvious shock.

A sense of contentment and satisfaction seemed to tickle his brain at hearing his name spoken by her rosy lips. He waved it away with a hand and Sakura looked at him with curiosity. Before she got to question him, their bowls of soba arrived, immediately drawing the hungry kunoichi's attention away from her rather stoic companion.

They ate the meal in silence, and Itachi ate slowly to observe the female who was engaged in her soba like her life depended on it. The sight of her sparkling eyes as they beheld life-giving food was entertaining to say the least.

"Eat slowly, you don't want to get stomach pains." He reminded her.

She practically choked on her mouthful of noodles, which mildly caused the Uchiha to barely shift out of his chair, but she soon swallowed with difficulty. She sighed with relief and drank a gulp of hot tea. "I'll be fine, thank you."

Itachi blinked. "Do you always inhale your food like that?"

Sakura shot him another nasty glare at his frank question. "No, not always, but most of the time."

He detected a bit of sarcasm, but he still wasn't sure if she meant it or not. He decided to let it pass. "You will end up with a stomachache. Training is tomorrow again."

At the mention of the training, Sakura sobered and thoughtfully chewed on a piece of noodle. "Am I really so useless in taijutsu?"

Itachi thought about the question. In truth, she was not horrible, but it did lag behind the standard ANBU that he had fought from Konoha. Should he exaggerate and tell her that she was indeed awful, or should he exaggerate the other way? Which way would she be encouraged to continue the training so that she would stay on her own will?

"Your taijutsu falls short of most ANBU that I've fought."

"And killed."

There was another ghostly hint of a smile. "Not always, but most of the time."

Sakura chuckled at his rare bit of wry humor. "Uchiha Itachi can joke. That's something you don't see everyday."

She continued eating her soba and he followed suit. The cook grinned at the pair as he handed another order to a nearby customer. "You two make a fine couple. Where are you from?"

Itachi really wanted to smile this time and he did, startling Sakura once again. He inclined his head forward. "Thank you. She's a little feisty though."

The cook missed Itachi's silence to his question, and laughed uproariously and patted his stomach in good humor. "But since she's that beautiful, I'm sure you'd be able to stand a little bit of fire."

Sakura ducked her head to hide her burning cheeks. "He's actually not—"

"Not attracted to her obvious beauty." Itachi flawlessly cut in. "It's that fire that brings more meaning to life."

The cook cooed with incoherent romantics at his words while serving them a plate of special spicy noodles to share. Sakura, with heated cheeks, looked away from the obvious look of bemusement on his face.

"I'm sure you're hungrier than you look," Itachi said, his voice low and reverberating, "it's best you accept it or we may attract unnecessary attention."

The rosette gave him a nasty look and slowly ate some of the noodles without a word. Hiding a smirk, Itachi picked up his own chopsticks and picked up a few strands of curly noodles to taste it. A mix of red pepper paste and various vegetables with a hint of wasabi exploded in his mouth. He did like spicy food.

He watched a myriad of expressions of her face as the spicy taste registered. She swallowed what she had in her mouth and quickly reached for her cup of water, which she gulped down without a second thought.

"What's wrong?"

Sakura tightly shut her eyes and waited for the flame on her tongue to die out. She exhaled and Itachi could almost see tears at the corners of her brilliant eyes. "This is too spicy for me." She pushed the plate to his direction.

"Fire can't fight with fire." He said, his voice reflecting his amusement.

He finished the plate without requiring a drink of water and he put down enough coins to pay for the meal. "Thank you for the meal."

The cook grinned at him and winked at Sakura. "Best wishes to you and the pretty lady. Come back and I'll treat you to some more soba."

Itachi bowed stiffly—he was not used to bowing out of respect—and turned to go with Sakura following behind him.

"U-Uchiha-san," she said almost breathlessly.

A smile snuck its way and tickled the corners of his mouth, but he suppressed it and turned back around to face her. She looked uncomfortable and nervous—or was that shame? Her eyes were directed at something to her left.

"What is it," he let out his smile as he added, "Sakura?"

Sakura looked up in surprise and her eyes grew even wider at his small smile. She swallowed and looked down at her feet. Itachi stepped closer for added pressure. She stepped back.

Clasping her hands behind her back and tightly closing her eyes, she quickly said, "Thank you."

The smile twisted into a sneer. Itachi reached for her hand and slowly raised it toward his mouth to barely graze his lips over her palm. "You won't be thanking me in the future," he looked straight into her orbs of liquid jade, "I promise."

He felt her body tremble slightly and he knew he was already winning the game. Letting go of her hand, he walked away, leaving her to ponder over his dangerous words.

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Ending notes: Hope you liked it. Thank you for reviewing! 


	4. Scroll Four

Beginning notes: Back with another chapter. Hope you like it. I'm worried that this story may be progressing a bit too slow.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto.

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_Wicked Irony_

_Scroll Four: Being Used_

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Uchiha Itachi noticed that Sakura was unusually quiet throughout the various training sessions that now reached the two-week mark. He and Kisame decided the day before, after much discussion, to send a hawk messenger to Konoha within the month, alerting them of Sakura's capture. There would be nothing else in the letter; Itachi knew that Naruto would come for Sakura no matter what the Godaime said. Once again, people nowadays were too predictable for their own good. The Uchiha estimated that it would take the Leaf ANBU at least another week before they found out their hiding place.

However, as Sakura hammered a tree with a powered fist, Itachi noticed the quick improvement in her taijutsu. She might even pose a challenge every now and then if she really tried.

He sat back and watched her attempt a complicated sequence of moves that required chakra balance and great speed. Her speed still lacked to pull it off perfectly. He could see the tiny beads of sweat that trickled down the side of her face and down her neck. One particular drop slowly, very slowly, made its way down from the end of her jaw line to pool at the middle of her collarbones. He watched it settle perfectly between them, tremble, then drop out of sight into her shirt. A far away part of his mind desired to carefully unbutton her shirt to see the rest of its journey down her body.

"Stop looking at me like that."

Itachi closed his eyes and a smirk flickered on his face. "If I don't watch you, how will I tell you what you are doing wrong, Sakura?" She had no answer for him. "Push off more with your right and shift your weight further on it as you kick. The momentum will supply with the speed that you need for now."

Sakura breathed in deeply before nodding. She tried again while he went back to observing her. He found himself more and more attracted to her fluid movement, her grace, and the precision of her chakra. He found himself watching her out of interest instead of the simple glance of a trainer. She was intricate, complicated, and he wanted to know more about how she worked.

The kunoichi took a break after another attempt. She sat down heavily on the grass with her back against the tree next to Itachi's. He had already memorized all of her habits and the rhythms of her heartbeats. It was always useful to memorize everything about the people around him if he could. That way, he could synchronize his own movements in order to accomplish whatever he wanted. Always, someone's habits came to aid him soon or later.

She panted, her chest rising and falling rapidly, and she closed her eyes to rest them against the glare of the sun through the tree tops. The birds chirped with delight all around them, calling to each other and singing lovely melodies for the forest. However, all of this went unnoticed by the Uchiha; he only trained his ears to follow the distinct whistling of a robin due west of his position.

"The birds sound lovely, don't they?" She asked with her eyes still closed.

Itachi raised a thin eyebrow. "I didn't notice."

Sakura smiled softly. "Listen, do you hear them? The sparrows and the jays?"

He smirked and whistled, perfectly imitating a sparrow. He held out his hand and a tiny sparrow drifted down from the treetops, eagerly chirping and flapping its wings as it landed on his outstretched index finger.

Sakura made a noise of delight at the sight of the little bird. It gently pecked at the gold ring on Itachi's finger and happily hopped down from his hand to the ground. Itachi watched the glow of contentment taint her cheeks and she seemed to have forgotten that she was in the presence of a dangerous criminal. She laughed as the bird took flight, letting its wings brush past her chin.

A dangerously pretty laugh.

He stood and unzipped his black Akatsuki cloak and tossed it against the tree he was resting against. Itachi stepped to Sakura and held out his hand. She looked at his hand and then into his eyes. "Let's see how you fare in battle."

A grin of satisfaction brightened her face and she took his hand. Electricity pulsed in his entire arm at her touch. He had to suppress a shiver. Itachi helped her up to her feet and they took their places on the opposite sides of the clearing.

"Attack first. I will respond."

Sakura sprang towards him, using the balls of her feet for balance and agility. Itachi was impressed at her improved speed, but he easily blocked her kick with his forearm and he reached for her with a fist, but she dodged quickly with a back flip. His heart was already pounding at the closeness of their bodies.

The kunoichi went into a flurry of kicks and punches, and Itachi's eyes were able to see every one of them coming his way. She tried to use her speed to disappear and reappear behind him, but her efforts were futile. His eyes quickly spotted her and spun around to lash out with a kick. His foot made solid contact with her side.

In a flash of pain, she flew against a tree. She hit it hard. Itachi took the opportunity to launch towards her, his fist drawn back. Sakura rolled out of the way before it smashed into her face, and stumbled towards the middle of the training area. The Uchiha softly landed his feet against the tree and flipped himself over gracefully.

"You're too reckless." Itachi said dully as he approached a kneeling Sakura. She was breathing harshly, tired from the exchange of taijutsu.

She managed a weak smile when he was standing just above her, his red eyes spelling out their invincibility with each spin. "I keep forgetting how slow I am."

"You shouldn't overlook your own weakness."

Sakura sighed and got to her feet. "So, did I pass at least?"

Itachi felt his eyebrows rise in surprise. "Pass?"

"How did I do against you?" She said while laughing.

His stomach seemed to disappear at the sound. Itachi held his impassive look and turned away. "Your speed has improved. But, your moves are still too clumsy. Combined with your strength, you remind me of a blundering elephant."

The laughter died from her eyes.

Good, at least he won't have to listen to that laughter for now. He was tired of feeling his stomach disappear.

The past week, he had been gruelingly training her with an intensity that exhausted her after each session. However, much to his surprise, she never complained. And that made him want to push her harder, to make her admit that the training was too difficult. She didn't. She also absorbed all of his dry, sarcastic criticisms and indirect insults with determination and respect, or whatever she had of it to give to a wanted criminal on the run.

"I know I still have long ways to go." She said. Her voice was soft but firm.

The Uchiha picked up his cloak and threw it back on. "What are your plans after this? Do you really wish to find Sasuke?"

She was silence for a full minute, and when she spoke, her voice was suddenly uncertain and hesitant. "I think so. When will you stop training me?"

Itachi smiled calmly as he turned to face her. "You still seem to believe that I will allow you to go."

"In exchange for your training and care, I won't give away your position." She said solemnly.

A chuckle almost burst from his throat. "Things aren't always so easily negotiable."

Fear flickered in her magnificent eyes. She bit her lip—he watched it turn white at the pressure point of her teeth—and she lowered her gaze.

Suddenly, she began to chuckle. It got louder until it turned into full pledged laughter, but this one was different than the others. This had a menacing vibe ringing in it.

But still beautiful.

She tried to stop laughing, and she seemed to make a valiant effort in doing so, but to no avail. "Why did I even _think_ that you would consider such a thing?" She managed to say between her laughing, "I mean, _you_ of all people as part of Akatsuki, letting a prisoner go without torturing them! The thought is just so ridiculous that I can't stop laughing!"

Itachi frowned. Really frowned, purely out of intense displeasure.

Soon, her laughter died out into a series of giggling. When the Uchiha spoke, his voice reflected his displeasure too much for his own liking. "You are right in not expecting anything from me."

Sakura's smile disappeared behind a sarcastic sneer. "It's hard to change people."

He didn't like that sneer on her face, which was becoming more and more pretty to his sharp eyes. Sometimes, he caught himself wondering why he hadn't noticed the slight wrinkles at the corners of her eyes when she smiled or how her green eyes varied in shade depending on her mood.

And by the darker hue of her eyes, he could tell she was angry.

Itachi usually liked how he could tell what she felt. It amused him to do all the things that made her irritated, but this time, her anger was real and for some reason, he didn't like that kind of anger directed at him.

"I want to be alone." She said abruptly. She turned away to face the forest.

He carefully controlled his face to look unemotional. "I can't allow that."

Sakura tossed a derisive look over her shoulder and said, "Give me an hour. If you come back and I've run away, you can come kill me."

His eyes narrowed automatically in suspicion but turned around, his cloak flaring magnificently. "An hour is all you have."

The Uchiha swiftly carried himself out of the clearing. Until he was a safe distance away, he turned back and silently leapt into the treetops toward the training grounds again. He couldn't risk her doing anything unexpected. This was no time to lose track of her.

He landed on a branch high from the ground a few yards away from the clearing. He could see her pink hair. Itachi went closer and made sure she was not a clone. She wasn't. There were no tracks leading out of the forest nor were there remnants of chakra left that were always left behind if a clone had been formed. With that security, he leaned against the heavy trunk of the tree and continued to watch her, his curiosity awakened again as to what she would do.

She lay on her back, her arms and legs spread wide, with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. The sunlight spilled down to bathe her in its warmth, and a part of him vaguely wondered how her skin seemed to shimmer in its glory. Her long hair was undone from its usual ponytail and splayed out on the grass, and each hair gleamed like they were silk strands. She was a picture of unearthly beauty, one that he had missed because he had found her caked in dirt and grime in a dark forest meant for nocturnal creatures like him.

Sakura remained still in that position for the entire hour until he somehow remembered that the hour was almost up. Itachi jumped down from the tree branch and landed beside her. He looked down at her smiling face with a dull feeling of hatred and strange admiration.

"It's been an hour." He said quietly as if he didn't want to disturb a fragile illusion.

"I realize."

"Let's go."

The smile did not waver from her face. "What's the rush?"

"I have wasted time because of you."

"You could have done something else besides watch me do nothing." She said with a shrug. She still had her eyes closed.

Itachi let out a smile that she couldn't see. "I couldn't risk you running away."

Her smile grew wider and her eyes opened, the sunlight making them a brilliant sea-green color. He almost lost all thought.

"Are you that attached to me, Uchiha-san?"

He dropped his smile and put on a look of coldness. "Think what you want. We must return."

Sakura stretched a little and got to her feet to stretch again. She followed him out of the forest, trailing behind his silent demeanor. He was aware that she seemed all too comfortable with him, something that puzzled and irritated him.

"Why are you keeping me here, Uchiha-san?" She asked casually as she bounded to him eagerly to catch up.

Itachi ignored the question to pointedly tell her that he refused to answer it. Her gait suddenly changed from the happy attitude to a cold one, and she swiftly went ahead and then turned around stopped to block his walk. Her face no longer held her smile; instead, an impassive face replaced it. Itachi stopped right in front of her, his imposing stature almost daring her to continue to obstruct his path.

Her emerald eyes looked up at him. "What is the purpose of keeping me hostage?"

Her voice was like firm and stony, and he was impressed with her ability to actually hide some of her emotion. Itachi met her glare and stared into them for a full minute before slowly looking above her head.

"You are an intelligent kunoichi, Sakura. It would be too easy for me to just tell you."

"No one knows I'm here. It's normal for me to be gone for months at a time."

Itachi smirked and watched her anger dissolve into confusion. "All in good time, Sakura-chan."

Her cheeks burst into color and she looked away. "Don't call me that."

He slowly walked past her flustered form and grazed a long index finger along her jaw. "As you wish."

The birds still chirped above them in the trees.

"Why are you like this?" Her soft voice carried with the wind. Itachi stopped but didn't turn around.

His mind was triggered by something that was in her voice, something that he had not heard before. An earnest tone? A pleading tone?

"Why are you confusing me like this?" She asked again in that same voice. He turned around and Sakura imitated him, her eyes now glistening with moisture as he gazed into them.

"I am doing nothing."

"You're supposed to be unfeeling, ruthless. Why do you keep giving me freedom?"

Itachi wanted to walk away, but found himself unable to even move from where he was standing. He was entranced by her eyes, stilled by the raw emotion shining from their depths.

"I just don't understand why you keep breaking all of the expectations that I had of you."

"You're mistaken. Don't assume too much about the intentions behind my actions. They are much simpler than you make them to be." Something in his stomach jerked but he willfully ignored it.

Sakura raised her face skyward and blinked back the tears that pooled at the bottom of her eyes. She sniffed and chuckled sarcastically to herself. "Of course. Uchiha Itachi is a simple man."

The last word almost made him flinch for a reason that he couldn't place. He started to walk away. He felt a strange feeling that he never had the privilege of feeling before. He didn't know the name of it.

"I'm being used, aren't I?" Sakura said.

Once again, his feet refused to move. The defeat in her voice was evident, and it was intriguing and disturbing at the same time.

Itachi breathed in the fresh air. "Yes."

Suddenly, her chakra vanished and then reappeared right behind him, and she reach for a kunai hidden under his robe in a speed that rivaled lightning. Itachi whipped around and caught her by the wrist, just in time to stop her from plunging the sharp blade into her stomach. They were face to face, each breathing hard, and he gripped her wrist tighter when she struggled, drawing her closer to him.

"Trying to end your life?"

She wouldn't raise her eyes to meet his angry, crimson Sharingan. "I can't bear the shame of being used like a tool." She whispered.

Itachi leaned in and put his mouth next to her soft earlobe. "Bear it for a little while. When it's over, you may end it." The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. "I need you."

Her grip on the kunai slacked and he slowly pulled away, but not before planting the softest of kisses along her jaw line and breathing in her scent. He felt her shiver and he gently took the kunai from her hand.

Sakura fell to the ground when her knees gave out from underneath her and Itachi stood looked down at her, partly wondering what to do and partly wondering what would happen if he held her against him. He crouched and gathered her in his arms. She curled against him—her eyes fluttering shut—and allowed him to carry her all the way to the inn room.

Kisame was not present in the dimly lit room when the Uchiha arrived with the human bundle on his arms, its long locks of pink gently swaying with each step. He put her down on the futon to rest, and he sat beside her. Her eyes were still open and staring, blank and empty as they seemed to eternally count the amount of dots on the ceiling.

"Do you believe in free will?" She asked softly. Sakura sat up and rested her weight back on her hands.

Itachi decided not to answer that dangerous question. It would be foolish to give her an answer now than later. It would keep her guessing at the least. He turned his head to look out the small window. Only the sky was visible.

"We will train again later. Your emotions kept us from investing another full two hours in your training."

Fortunately, Kisame returned with food so the Uchiha did not have to bother with going outside to feed her again. He disliked having to mingle with the villagers, and he disliked it even more that he had attracted unnecessary attention from many women. The trio ate in a strangely comfortable silence in their little room, and Sakura only ate a few mouthfuls before gazing out the window.

Itachi sharpened several of his kunai while Kisame did the same with his enormous sword to pass the time. The night would be an ideal time to train now; the dark was where he thrived, and he would have fun training her without much visibility. A ninja operated mostly in the night, and it would become the ultimate test for Sakura and the taijutsu that she had learned.

As night fell, the Uchiha got ready for another training session. He placed all of his sharpened kunai back into a black weaponry pouch, and headed out first towards their little patch of clearing.

"Wait fifteen minutes after I leave. Come prepared for anything." Itachi warned her solitary figure in the room. She nodded in silence.

The grass whispered under her feet and fell quiet when he leapt up into the branches again. His hand brushed by the roughness of the bark as he pinned a kunai into it to secure it in place. The slippery texture of chakra string tickled his fingertips as he tied a knot around the hilt. He proceeded to carefully judge the distance between all of the trees around him, and his alert senses picked up the scent of an animal nearby.

Itachi finished setting up his trap with routine ease in ten minutes and waited in the tree directly across the spot from where she would predictably enter the grounds. Sakura would trip the trap, and he would have to see how well she did with surprises. He liked surprises, but he couldn't say the same for many others.

The animal scent grew stronger.

He let his gaze sweep the outer edges of the forest, but he did not see a creature that had any potential to mess up his training. Then, as if cued, he saw Sakura cautiously enter the dark clearing. Only the moonlight penetrated the black night, giving the grass a strange glow of silver. Itachi's keen ears picked up the sound of the grass whispering under her footsteps. The air was still, and there was no audible sound when she stopped to check for traps.

In anticipation, he watched her spot his thin strand of chakra string and carefully follow it to the kunai lodged in the tree trunk. She quickly and ably disarmed the entire trap. She was smart; he had to give her that. He felt the pit of his stomach twinge with an odd sense of eagerness as she successfully made her way through the entire maze of chakra strings.

A sudden black mass, huge but nimble, lunged at her from the right and tackled her to the ground. She rolled with the enormous momentum of the force to get out of the lethal embrace of her attacker, and a hungry growl reached his ears. She was leaning heavily on one knee, and the moonlight sparkled a dark red on the dribble of blood that ran down from a wound above her eyebrow. The huge bear stood to its towering height and let out a low roar.

Itachi took immediate action. He leapt down from his hiding spot and landed right between the bear and Sakura. "Get out of here."

"It nearly took off my head and that's all you can say, jackass?" She snarled angrily. "I'm staying."

He glanced back at her angry, fiery eyes and smirked.

"Are you all right?"

In front of him, the furious bear bellowed its challenge for the pink-haired prey. Of course, Uchiha Itachi had to accept.

Sakura was his and his alone.

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Ending notes: Review please! Thanks a bunch to those who reviewed! I'm glad you like it so much! 


	5. Scroll Five

Beginning notes: WARNING: I am going to kill off an innocent bear. If you'd rather not read how it dies, skip to the fourth paragraph.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto.

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_Wicked Irony_

_Scroll Five: Three Letters_

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If there was any such thing as controlled chaos, this was it.

The bear reared and readied for an attack as it let out a huge roar, and Itachi spun his Sharingan while his hands flew into several seals. The thought of killing it, defeating it, to fight for his prey, consumed him and every inch of his chakra channels, filling him up to the brim. He heard only the distant shouts of Sakura, and the forest no longer seemed dark. Something grabbed him by the elbow—he thought it was another bear, and flung it off of him, only to catch a glimmer of familiar pink.

The animal charged at him, its burning black eyes teeming with one pure innate instinct: kill. A cold, controlled smile and the final hand seal produce a huge ball of red hot fire, engulfing the poor animal. The bear gave out a piercing, pitiful last howl and collapsed in a burning pile. The corpse continued to burn, the orange flames hungrily devouring the former hunter and rendering its corpse charred and black.

Itachi's head began to clear, and he could now hear the quite roar of the dying blaze and the sad hoot of an observing owl. His face relaxed into its usual, impassive countenance and his crimson eyes watched with a triumphant gleam of the victor. With a final smirk in his eyes, he turned away to reclaim what had been his.

Sakura lay on her side, knocked unconscious after he had thrown her away when she had tried to restrain him from killing the bear. A dull feeling of concern washed over him as he approached her, but she stirred when he was still a couple yards away. The kunoichi rubbed the back of her head as she sat up, and Itachi stood next to her.

She looked up and her eyes clearly showed him a fear that he had not seen before. Her long hair spilled over her face as she scrambled back from him, unable to get up. He kept approaching her—he felt the strange feeling of déjà vu of the same he first met her—and reached for her with his hand.

"Don't!" She shouted out of panic. He stopped, and she was breathing heavily, her green eyes glaring at him with clear loathing. "Don't touch me with those hands—you animal!"

He felt like he had swallowed a heavy stone for his stomach dropped. Anger, rage, and everything in between seemed to build inside of him as he kept staring at those hating eyes of jade. "I saved your life."

The kunoichi shoot her head viciously, completely denying his words. "No, I didn't need your saving!" Her furious face suddenly grew fearful. "Why did you kill it? You could have just scared it away." She whispered as if in pain.

"It was going to kill you." He said bluntly. His anger rose another level.

"I told you to save it! You—You were exactly like it! Your eyes had the same murderous intention!" She said in a heightened whisper. "You're nothing _but_ an animal!"

He had frightened her beyond reason. This would not do. If she was scared of him, she would try to escape and all their days of peaceful coexistence would soon be extinct. He could see fear etched on her face like age itself, and he let out a breath as he tried to think.

Itachi closed his red eyes, which seemed to help her clam down, and he stepped back to give her space. "What can I do to show you that I am not an animal?" It was a question that demanded an answer.

Sakura wrapped her arms around her knees and glowered at the innocent grass. "Nothing has the power to become something that it's not."

A dry, humorless chuckle escaped his throat. "You are quite pathetic."

She threw him a dirty look that he would have gladly returned. "What?"

"Then, by your words, you must mean that a mere _medic nin_ cannot become a useful asset to her ANBU squad even if she trained with an S-class criminal. Then we are finished here." He swept away from her, his cloak billowing when a gust of wind passed him.

The flames were almost dead.

"Wait." Her voice was still thick with tears.

He stopped. He knew he had won, but he was not amused.

"Tell me why. Tell me why you left Sasuke alive."

Itachi suspected she wanted to hear some kind of remorseful answer, something to indicate that he had a conscience or at least felt what others called guilt. He would have to fake something, or else things might get too annoying and frustrating for him.

"I wanted someone to remember me." As if that made any sense at all. But he hoped it would suffice.

Sakura was contemplating his answer, but instead of being satisfied, she probed deeper. He felt a twinge of irritation at feeling like being analyzed by some psychiatrist. "Why did you kill them in the first place?"

"To see the limit of my capabilities. I wanted to know how far I could go."

"And you destroyed your humanity to know it?" There was incredulity in her voice.

Itachi turned around and lifted the corners of his lips in what he hoped was a smile. "I am still human."

She fell silent at this reasoning. "What would happen if Sasuke did manage to kill you?"

The smile remained on his face. "Then it would mean the end of my potential."

"When you fight, what do you feel?"

That was an interesting question indeed and he found himself ready to answer. "I feel nothing that hinders me from fighting."

"What does that mean?"

Itachi stepped closer and found that she did not notice. He took another step closer and found that he was directly standing in a beam of moonlight. "I mean that I feel whatever keeps me fighting."

Sakura suddenly seemed aware of the lessened gap between their bodies but surprisingly did not back away. She did not seem afraid of him anymore. He did not advance further from his spot but he watched her keenly, expecting her next question.

"Do you admit that you're crazy?"

Amusement settled in his chest. "What would be your definition of crazy? Someone who kills off his entire clan? Someone who likes to watch his foolish little brother suffering? Yes, then I would qualify. "

She looked at him for a long time. "What if I'm crazy?" Her voice was strained in trying to disguise her fear.

"What are you doing that would indicate that you are crazy?" He drawled casually.

Her opulent eyes clashed with his in a fierce battle. "I am—"

A low whistle of astonishment interrupted them. They both turned to look at Kisame, who was bending over the charred remains of the bear. The shark-like man grinned at them. "So, this is what training is? Fighting animals?"

Itachi was partially grateful for the interruption but also curious as to what had been the rest of her sentence. However, his mind decided that he was more grateful than curious, and he glanced at Sakura before joining Kisame next to the bear carcass.

"We will send a messenger hawk tomorrow. It's time." He said in a low voice. Kisame's beady eyes did not move from observing the dead bear, but a tiny nod of his head told Itachi that he had understood.

However, Kisame glanced furtively at Sakura's form ways from them and dropped his voice as he stooped, giving the illusion that he taking a closer look. "I've just received word. Your brother is on the move with Hebi. I think he knows where we are."

"Where is he now?"

"Not too far. It isn't clear that he knows, but there is a chance. Are we going to leave?"

Itachi pondered. "Perhaps, but it's too early to tell." Suddenly, a light seemed to go off in his mind. He smiled. "No, we'll stay."

The Uchiha could sense Kisame's skepticism. "If he can find us, it won't matter. Besides, I think our Sakura will like to meet with an old friend."

He almost felt Kisame grin with anticipation. The two finished their quiet discussion and saw that Sakura had gotten to her feet. Itachi, unwilling to scare her again, left the clearing first, leaving Kisame and Sakura to walk back behind him.

Meanwhile, his mind spun with ideas. It was most probable that Sasuke would find him first, and it would be obvious that he would fight Itachi to the death. The rest of the Hebi could be taken care of by his trusted partner. It would be such a sight to see, reuniting long lost friends once more, and forcing her to see how much her childhood love had changed.

Then, after he had taken care of Sasuke, Konoha would arrive. It would only be a matter time before Naruto traded himself in for Sakura's safety.

However, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he would have to face the younger Uchiha in a fight for the first time in years. A part of Itachi knew that Sasuke was considerably stronger, and that he would put up quite a fight. The ultimate question was whether or not the younger had much more potential than the elder.

He liked that word: potential.

When he reached the inn, he immediately asked for pen and paper, and he quickly composed a message that read:

_Haruno Sakura is with the Akatsuki. Send the Kyuubi or they will kill her._

He paid a coin for the fastest hawk that was available, and he watched the bird take flight, screeching its freedom as it soared into that brilliant night sky. Itachi felt something like envy as he gazed at the easy, fluid motion of its wings, and wondered what it felt like to be so free. He shook away the thought almost as quickly as it came.

"Oi, you already sent it?"

The Uchiha nodded. "We can't wait until tomorrow."

Sakura gave the pair of criminals a puzzled glance before heading straight for their room. Kisame and Itachi soon joined her, but she was already asleep on the futon on her side in the corner next to the door. She was snuggled deep under the covers. As a habit that developed over the last week, the Uchiha watched her sleep.

The small window of their room allowed the moonlight to enter and illuminate her sleeping form, and it seemed to make her glow. Suddenly, a shadow fluttered across the window, disturbing his own disturbing thoughts and alerting him. His body tensed with a familiar sensation of an ambush, but he relaxed a little when a sharp twitter announced the arrival of a messenger hawk.

Kisame shifted in his place against the wall, perhaps eager for more bloodshed, but Itachi reached the window and opened it. A passing night breeze swept into the room, refreshing the dead air, and the Uchiha untied the small scroll attached to the hawk's leg. It bore the seal of the Akatsuki: a red cloud partially covering a crescent moon.

Itachi waved a dismissive hand but the hawk refused to budge, and Itachi opened the scroll. His first instinct was to analyze the handwriting to make sure it belonged to someone in the group. It was the leader's own writing. It was neat, almost like a child's, painstakingly done with the markings of an inexperienced writer. He wrote:

_It has come to my attention that you hold a Konoha kunoichi hostage. Explain._

"Who's it from?"

Itachi sensed trouble. The leader usually never interfered with the way any of the members worked, as long as it was successful. This was strange, and it did not spell good news for his plans.

He quickly found paper and pen and wrote a reply easily in the dark. The sound of the pen scratching on paper seemed to resonate in the small room.

_The kunoichi is bait to lure the Kyuubi to us. We have sent word now to inform them. The Kyuubi will come. _

Keeping it simple and short, he tied it to the hawk's leg. It was the second time to see it fly, its dark silhouette against the pale moon becoming smaller as it headed west. Itachi sat back down in his usual place against the wall and resumed watching the rosette slumber in peace. What more of this peace would remain, he did not know, but he had somehow come to not dislike the quiet once in a while.

Kisame silently stood and shouldered his massive sword. "I'm going hunting. Took a nap in the afternoon and I can't sleep right now." He grumbled ill-naturedly. He quietly left the room, muttering incoherent complaints under his breath as he closed the door behind him.

The room grew quiet again, but this time the silence was heavy and filled with too many things. The Uchiha felt slightly apprehensive and clustered and he unzipped his cloak. Another breeze entered the room; he had forgotten to close the window after the bird had left. He shifted into a comfortable position, resting his forearm on his bent knee while his other leg was languidly stretched out to its full extent.

"Uchiha-san…" A faint voice floated to his ears. Itachi looked in the direction of the sleeping figure of Sakura. "Uchiha-san…"

Getting to his feet soundlessly, he made his way beside her and stood looking down at her ivory face. It was in a slight frown, and her hand twitched as if she wanted to move it in order to reach something. He crouched, wondering what he should do. Something bubbled inside of him, making him stretch out his hand to touch the middle of her palm. Suddenly, her hand snapped shut around it, tightly gripping it as if it was the last thing she would ever touch.

His lips shifted into an amused smile as he watched her face flicker into a different kind of smile that he had never seen before. It was filled with contentment and a sense of relief, and he could not help but feel relaxed as he watched her.

A little content and satisfied himself, Itachi got up to go back to his spot against the wall, but her hand did not let go of his own. It tightened when he tried to pull it away, and after attempting it several times, the Uchiha frowned and sat down in his usual position, this time his right arm resting on his bent right knee. He allowed his left hand to lay latent in her small soft hands next to her face. Her warm breaths glazed over his skin like silk in a gentle rhythm. He hesitantly reached out to stroke her pale cheek. It was so soft under his fingers.

As he watched her, he felt his body begin to lose its tension, his eyes slip shut, and his mind grow hazier, and he vaguely noticed that his head drooped down. All sense of vulnerability and paranoia disappeared, leaving him strangely, even gladly, empty.

"Uchiha-san?"

For the first time in a long time, Itachi was actually startled and he opened his eyes to meet a pair of silvery green. Sakura was looking at him—their hands were still connected but neither noticed—and Itachi froze, not knowing what to do.

Sakura's eyes swam with confusion. He looked away and finally pulled away his hand. He stood but did not move, allowing her a chance to say something.

"Are you…angry?"

There was a slight pause. "No."

"Will you stay next to me?" Her voice was fleeting and simple.

The Uchiha was silent and still for what seemed like an hour before he slowly sat back down. "Go to sleep."

With a faint smile, she lay back down on the futon and let out a deep breath. Sakura closed her eyes again, and Itachi dared not look at her for danger of never being able to look away.

"When will Naruto come?"

He wondered whether or not to answer the question. "Soon,"

He felt her hand hesitantly close around his cold one. "Will you make me go?" She asked in the tiniest of whispers.

"Yes."

His voice was firm and set even to his own ears. She tightened her grip on his hand and pressed her body even further to the futon. Sakura let out a mirthless chuckle. "What am I doing, holding the hand of my captor?"

It was a question mostly to herself and one to which he had no answer. He pulled his hand away; he felt exposed when she touched him.

"You will only hurt yourself." He did not even know what he was warning against.

The kunoichi nodded. "I'm going home. Don't worry."

The usual feeling of sardonic amusement arose again. "I don't believe that's where you will be going."

They did not speak anymore, but neither slept even after the sun rose and morning greeted them. Itachi stood again and this time Sakura sat up, running a hand through her long, pink hair.

"Come, it's time for training." He said carelessly as if nothing had passed between them. He picked up his Akatsuki cloak and slipped it on, almost grateful for a shield that covered himself away from her eyes.

Sakura tied her hair back with a string and stretched before getting to her feet. She looked around and a bemused look crossed her face. "Where's Kisame?"

"Out for fresh air."

They met Kisame halfway through the forest, his sword freshly bound and cleaned, and the large man glared down at the petite shinobi, though without much malice. Sakura returned it but could not hold it.

The clearing was as mundane as anyone had ever seen it, but the familiarity simply passed him by as he began to give her training instructions. They trained and trained, sometimes sparring and other times resting. Itachi focused solely on her training, on her footwork, on her speed, rather than her silky hair, her soft cheek, and her revealing eyes. He was more concerned on how well she did in her training than how much her body could take.

Sakura's face was set in a determined grimace as she sparred yet again with the Uchiha. She was unsuccessful in landing a blow on him, and a sense of impatience grew inside of Itachi at her incompetence.

"You haven't gotten any better." He said when Sakura sat down heavily after the match.

The kunoichi did not respond except with a smile. "I know. It was only yesterday that we had our first practice match."

"I expect better."

A disappointed look settled on her face before it turned into one of resolve. "Let's go again."

Before he knew it, he and Sakura were drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, lying eagle-spread under the new evening sky. He welcomed this feeling of exhaustion.

Suddenly, Itachi heard the familiar bird-cry, an Akatsuki call, which signaled an urgent message. He bolted from the ground, his body trained to respond to the call with an absolute quickness. Swiftly, he exited the forest towards the source of the sound which came from the inn. He knocked down the door and found Kisame holding a small message scroll, similar to the one from last night.

His partner tossed him the note without a word, and Itachi snatched it out of the air. In the leader's handwriting, the note was scrawled:

_Good. Now that you have informed Konoha, kill her._

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Ending notes: This might be the last update in while. School has started and I better focus on it before I fail out. But thank you so much for enjoying my story so far!


	6. Scroll Six

Beginning notes: I couldn't sleep, so I decided to write another chapter. Hope it's good! Thank you so much for the reviews! I love how you are all writing something more than just "update soon" or "good job!" Those are appreciated, but I love reading long reviews, be it simply constructive or filled with compliments! Thanks again!

* * *

_Wicked Irony_

_Scroll Six: Wicked Irony_

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Itachi stared at the message for a long time. He felt his eyes burn from staring at those words for long, but then his brain clicked into its business mode. What the leader said was true: there was no longer any need to keep her around. Why hadn't he thought of that before?

His body almost moved on his own and it calmly stepped to the door and opened it. When he did, his eyes met a pair soulful green of jade, staring at him with curiosity and brightness. He froze, and they stared at each other for what seemed like a piece of eternity.

"What's wrong?"

Her voice struck him like a million kunai and he imagined himself launching at her in the narrow corridor of the inn, throwing her against the wall by the neck, making her scream, making her bleed—

"Uchiha-san?"

Itachi made a conscious effort to force his mind out of its dangerous daze and carefully controlled his face into its emotionless mask. Haruno Sakura looked at him perplexedly, but he paid no attention.

Before the air became heavy, he stepped past her, keeping his eyes off of her. "I will bring back food. Wait here with Kisame."

"Don't forget the sake." His partner growled.

The Uchiha walked slowly through the streets, his mind calculating the leader's words and the two simple decisions that he would have to make: Where would he kill her? How would he kill her?

He bought several bottles of sake and some food and headed back towards the inn. His footsteps were steady and calm as they took him towards his future victim. A shame, he thought, since he was planning to see the psychological disaster when Sakura saw his brother again. His hand was on the doorknob.

"You better not walk in without sake bottles in your hands." A voice called from the other side.

Itachi smirked and opened the door. He set the bag of sake and food on the floor before he took off his sandals. The first person he saw was his partner. Kisame sat on the floor with his legs crossed while their captive sat against the wall with a thin book. She appeared to be in deep concentration, her brows furrowed and lips pursed.

The sight struck him as oddly pretty, but he cleared it from his mind before it was able to take root. Itachi stepped into the room and handed the bag to Kisame who greedily took out his precious bottle of spirits.

"We haven't had a drink together in a while. Drink up." He invited in a half good-natured way.

Usually, Itachi did not drink. Alcohol made him bloodthirsty. And for a person who conducted murder like business that was bad news.

However, without another word of persuasion, he gracefully sat down in front of his Akatsuki associate. His calmness was unnerving even to him. His stomach felt like an invisible leech was draining him of every emotion possible. Perhaps alcohol could shake off the vengeful leech.

If Kisame was surprised at Itachi's uncommon willingness to drink sake, he didn't show it. Instead, glad to be drinking with someone else, he poured his partner some sake first before serving himself. Itachi held up his shallow cup, staring at the clear liquid that reflected the crimson of his eyes.

And he raised the cup to his lips and tipped it back, letting the cool sake slithered down his throat like liquid fire, and he could feel its effects almost immediately. His mother was never much of a drinker.

He thought he blinked, but then felt like he didn't. The color of the room became darker and darker into a shade of red. His mind started to travel faster and faster, his memories coming back to him, over and over again; his mother, his father, his brother…he didn't want to remember. He hated all of them, hated them and the color red. Blood, his parents' blood, and the blood running through his own veins colored his life, and anger took hold in a crimson pool.

The quiet smile of his mother haunted his dreams, the deep, resonate voice of his father echoed in his ears, and the light weight of his baby brother on his back felt like a sack of boulders on his shoulders. The look of shock frozen on his best friend's face as he floated, horribly lifeless, in the river also swam in his mind. The inexplicable fury pent up inside of him when he had to bow on his knees to the three, defeated clan members, and the immense sense of relief that had flooded into his soul when he slaughtered each man, woman, and child, one by one, returned to him all at once.

The sight of their blood painted on the walls, the floors, and the streets was the only color that he ever saw when he closed his eyes, and its fresh, metallic scent was all he could taste and smell when he ate. He drank to their cursed memories, and drank to his achievement of reaching a higher potential. Uchiha Itachi never regretted it. Never regretted the decimation of his despised clan, but what was this feeling?

This strange feeling of wanting to go back and change something. As if he would have done something different if given the chance again.

Itachi kept drinking the alcohol, drinking the elixir of madness, and allowed him to feel that secret anger that burned like his throat, his eyes, and he gripped his cup with an intensity that matched his power. It shattered in his hand—the pieces flew everywhere, making tiny cuts on his hand—and stained it a light shade of red as they bled.

"Uchiha-san!" Sakura dropped her book at the sound of the glass breaking. She ran to him and grasped his hands with her two tiny ones with a surprising tenderness that added to his strange, accusing anger. His throat tightened, forcing his airway shut. He dared not breathe.

_Good. Now that you have informed Konoha, kill her. _

_Kill her. _

_Now._

Hands reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders and pinned her down to the floor—the commotion knocking the sake bottles all loose—his face was so close to hers that he could feel her startled breathing against his cheek. Confused, chaotic eyes stared into familiar pools of green and then noticed the smooth complexion of her skin, then the beautiful pink of her lips. She struggled—he didn't let her go—but when he merely stared at her, she stopped fighting him and stared straight back.

_The black shapes in his eyes melted together to transform into the Mangekyou Sharingan, and Sakura was now held in a strange place, fused with only the colors of red and black. The place was barren, except for a small figure huddled not to far from her. Frightened and scared of the ominous red skies above her, she sought a little companionship from the mysterious form. She started walking towards it, and to her growing surprise, she was staring at the back of a little girl, curled up in a ball with her knees to her chest. She sat unmoving. _

_Out of curiosity, Sakura approached her, attached a convincing smile on her face, and sat down beside her. For a little bit, she was afraid to look at her face, but she mustered up the courage to take a peek out of the corner of her eye. She did a double take. The girl was actually a boy, albeit a very pretty boy, with familiar grooves that extended diagonally from the sides of the bridge of his nose to the middle of each cheek. Long black lashes rimmed his sad, yet beautiful eyes, and his ebony hair was tied into a little ponytail at the back. She recognized him almost instantly. _

"_U-Uchiha-san?" She asked timidly. _

_The little Itachi raised his head from his gathered knees and looked at her with a sad expression. "I wish to be alone please."_

_Since there was no sign of recognition, Sakura relaxed and offered him a smile. "How old are you?"_

_He did not look at her again, but he murmured an answer after a little pause. "Seven."_

"_Wow, you're a big boy. Can I ask you why you look so down?"_

_He shook his head and refused to answer her. Sakura sighed and mimicked how he was sitting. She rested her chin on her knees and tried to make out what he was staring at into the barren distance. _

"_This reminds me of the Sand Village." She said to no one in particular._

_There was a heavy silence between them. "Me too."_

_Sakura's heart jumped at the response from the silent boy. "Have you been there?"_

_He nodded. "For a mission. I killed someone."_

_The words produced a shock that she did not expect. "But you're so young!"_

_A thin smile formed on his face, one that reminded her of the present Itachi, sardonic and mocking. "They do not think so. They say I am a prodigy."_

"_But you're still a child! How could they?"_

_His sad eyes turned hard and he shot her a glare. "Don't underestimate me because of my age."_

_Sakura's shock deflated and she returned to a state of calm. "I'm sorry. I just think that little boys like you should just go out and play with other little boys and girls."_

"_Oba-san says I am different than they are. I am better than they are. It is my duty to protect my village. It is an honor." He said stiffly, like he rehearsed it every day. Something in the way he said it convinced her that he only half-heartedly believed it._

"_Indeed, it is an honor." She sighed in defeat. "Doesn't your mom want you to go outside and play?"_

_He returned to the silence again, his eyes becoming sad once more. "She's too busy taking care of my brother."_

_She could detect bitterness in his little voice. "That's because he's a little baby. He doesn't know how to take care of himself."_

_His thin brows contracted towards the middle, and he sniffed. "Oka-san said that I learned to walk when I was only seven months old. Oba-san said I knew how to control chakra when I was two. Other babies can't do that. But Sasuke is already two years old and he can't do anything. Oka-san looks after him constantly. She said that I didn't need as much attention when I was his age."_

"_You were just special, that's all."_

_He sniffed again. "Oka-san loves Sasuke more."_

_Her heart wrenched in pity at his words. "No, that's not true. You are her first son. She loves you just as much. It just doesn't seem like it right now because Sasuke needs a lot of attention."_

"_I hate Sasuke." He said with hostility that did not suit a seven-year-old child. "I wish he was never born."_

"_You don't mean that. He's your brother." Sakura said gently._

"_I hate all of them. Oba-san, because he doesn't love me as a son; he loves me as his tool to make him better than everyone else. I hate Oka-san because she loves Sasuke more than me. I hate Sasuke for taking her away from me. I hate this village because it makes me kill people for its own good. I'll show them one day. I don't need any of them."_

_Without realizing it, Sakura had wrapped her arms around his tiny frame. "Then you can have me. I'll be your friend."_

"_I wish I wasn't special. Maybe then, Oka-san would love me more." He whispered against her shoulder._

Uchiha Itachi tore his mind away from her, his bitterness and anger somehow ebbing away. Physically, he was still on top of her, clutching her shoulders while she stared at him, dazed at the experience she had just gone through in his own mind.

Slowly, he shifted his position so that one hand clamped firmly around her slender neck as the other hand reached for a kunai. Its blade glimmered in the fading light as he held it up, positioned to strike. Sakura closed her eyes peacefully, and he looked at her, his impassive face waiting for some sort of signal that would never come—

Suddenly, the kunai was knocked away from his hand, and dull sense of surprise registered in the back part of his mind, and the Uchiha looked up to see who had done it. Kisame stood above him, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his black pants, as he stared off somewhere to his right, casually refusing to meet the spinning eyes of the Sharingan.

"I figure, if you're hesitating that much to kill her, you're going to regret ever doing it." He growled. "Thank me later. Zetsu was watching you, and he has gone back to the leader. Be ready to fight."

A terrible realization dawned on Itachi, a danger that neither he nor anyone could escape. Akatsuki would be sent to kill him for disobeying orders.

"Uchiha-san…" Sakura whispered, afraid to break the heavy silence that fell upon them like an axe.

Itachi sharply looked down upon his captive, his eyes telling her to be quiet as his mind whirled with various different scenarios. It was then that he also realized that he was still on top of her but with a more relaxed hand on her neck. Her skin was soft under his fingers. He quickly got up silently, and hesitantly offered her a hand to help her stand. With a timid smile, she took it.

"Kisame, you shouldn't have stopped me." He said quietly when he turned to face him.

"Tell me if you ever regret saving her. I'll kill her for you." His partner snapped. "And I'm never asking you to have a drink again. What the hell kind of person goes off on a murderous rage after drinking one bottle? You're a lousy drinking partner."

In a storm of muttering and cursing, Kisame exited the room. He slammed the door shut behind him and let the sound ring in the room where the remaining two people stood in perfect silence.

Itachi moved first. He picked up the abandoned kunai and put it back in his weapon holster. There was a foreign feeling in the pit of his stomach that felt as if he had swallowed several things with wings. He ignored it and felt that the best way to overcome it was to get out of the room.

"Uchiha-san."

His name never sounded so innocent and blameless to his own ears before.

Itachi did not turn around to face her, but he waited for her to continue. There was a soft patter of footsteps, and he felt thin arms encircle his torso from behind. It was a gentle hug without an obligation of one in return. "I meant what I said. I will be your friend."

"You will not repeat what you saw." He commanded in a low voice.

He felt her nodded against his back. "As you wish."

Silence reigned again, and Itachi voiced the question that was eating away at his mind. "Do you not wonder why I didn't kill you?"

She shook her head; the sensation almost brought chills down his spine. "I'm sure Uchiha-san had a reason. All I am is grateful."

In truth, even Itachi did not know the answer to his own question.

"The Akatsuki will come soon. Be prepared. Perhaps your training will be applicable soon."

Itachi carefully detached from her arms and looked around the room which had become a disaster in his rage. He slowly picked up the broken pieces of glass, and reorganized the food that he had bought from the market. When he had finished, Sakura pointed to his hand.

"Your hand is a mess."

He looked at his left hand and saw that it was indeed bloody and cut up. She approached him with the same kind of boldness she possessed during training, but her gentleness reminded him almost of a feather, delicate and smooth. Placing both hands on top of his wounded one, she emitted a soft flow of chakra that covered each cut, healing them closed without even the slightest hint of a scar.

Itachi did not utter a word of thanks; he had never said it to anyone before, and he certainly was not about to start now. But instead of waiting for it, she merely sat down on her futon, picked up her book, and resumed reading. She was a strange creature.

The night loomed outside of their little room where they sat in a comfortable, mutual peace. Kisame had not yet returned from his rendezvous. All of the food was eaten and Itachi continued to plan out a strategy. Preparation was to be made. Instantly, he stood up.

"Come, we must get ready."

He left his cloak—he was no longer Akatsuki—and swept out of the room quickly with Sakura trailing behind him. Itachi booby-trapped the entire area around the inn with specialized chakra string that was almost invisible to the naked eye.

"Won't we need an escape route?" Sakura asked to the shadowy figure next to her after they finished wiring the final trap.

Itachi's blank face almost showed an incredulity that matched the feeling inside. "We will fight to the end."

"Even the greatest ninjas know when to retreat."

"They will not let us alone even if we manage to get away. We will finish it here."

Sakura nodded her concurrence. "How many are we expecting?"

"Two."

It would be most likely that the leader would send a pair. Most of them had equal footing anyway. It would not be a business this fight; it was survival of the fittest: kill or be killed. But, it was a chance for him to fight someone of strength, another rung in the infinite ladder of potential. Who would it be? Tobi? Zetsu? Perhaps even Konan?

Not many of them were left except maybe the strongest. This would be a challenge.

After checking the perimeter, the pair of misfit shinobi went back inside in their inn. It was dark, but neither bothered to turn on the light.

"Uchiha-san, can I ask you how old you are?"

The question mildly surprised him. "I don't remember."

His answer brought out a jingling laugh. "You must be old for you to forget."

"It feels like I've lived an eternity."

"I feel like I've been here with you for an eternity." Itachi saw her shudder a little. "Sometimes, when you and I were training in that forest, I felt like I was back in Konoha. And I thought about what life would be like if none of _it_ ever happened, if all of them were still alive. Would you have still trained me? Would Sasuke have smiled more? Would we have ever known each other more than this moment? Would I…be feeling the same way about you as I do now?"

"What do you feel now?" The question spilled out of his mouth without thought.

"As an enemy, I would spare you." Her voice grew quieter, less courageous, but she continued. "As a friend, I would die for you. As a woman," she paused with nervousness, "I want you."

A smile played on the corner of his lips. "You make yourself vulnerable."

"It's your choice whether or not you want to take advantage of it, Uchiha-san." She whispered.

He got up noiselessly, and walked over to the vulnerable kunoichi who sat on her futon. He reached down and dragged a long finger across her flawless jaw, watching as her body reacted to his light touch. He bent low to meet her face which he lifted with his finger, and smelled the delicious scent of strawberries. Itachi's hair fell over his shoulder and tickled her cheek; he could feel her trembling in anticipation of his next movement.

Sakura's eyes wandered all over his face and then finally met his crimson eyes, determined and fierce, even challenging. His stomach tingled in excitement at her boldness and a slow smile made its way back to his face. He dipped his face to her right ear and blew a gentle stream of air, and she shivered at the chilly sensation that crawled up and down her spine.

"Would you not rather give yourself to my brother?" Itachi whispered into her ear. He kissed the very end of her jaw.

He could feel her cheek widening into a smirk. "He lost his chance."

Her words caused a satisfied jolt in his chest and he kissed the corner of her rosy lips. "Foolish little brother." Itachi breathed, before he descended upon her mouth.

Her slender hands slid around his neck and toyed with his hair as she returned his kiss. He pushed her back gently on the futon and broke their connection. He looked at her with a resolve quite unmatched even on the battlefield, and dared her to object now. His desire grew when she pulled him in for another kiss.

His cunning hands found their way under her shirt, exploring her soft skin and her navel, while his tongue did its own exploration of her mouth. His body grew feverish with want when she moaned softly against his mouth and arched her back against his solid body; never had such desire filled him all at once with the force of lightning.

The night passed on, but the couple paid no heed to its passing. After Sakura's third climax, they lay side-by-side, breathing hard and fast. Itachi waited until she fell asleep before dressing in his pants. He sat cross-legged beside her peaceful form, his flushed skin inviting the cool air of the early morning. He pulled the blanket over her bare, exposed shoulders while confused thoughts drifted into his mind once more, questioning her motives, his emotions, and his own self.

Soon, the Uchiha reassured himself that it was lust; lust after a beautiful woman who offered her body to him. It was a man's reaction. Even he needed something other than just training. There could be no emotional attachment to her. No, there _was_ no emotional attachment to her.

He glanced at Sakura, and a loose strand of her rosy hair fluttered against her lips as she breathed. Instinctively, Itachi reached out and pulled it away from her face, and his hand halted in midair at his own action. But as he watched her sleep, a strange sense of deep, overwhelming satisfaction came from the fact that she was absolutely exhausted from the night, and he smirked.

This kind of satisfaction never came from the battlefield.

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Ending notes: Finally an update. Sorry about the long, long wait. Hope this chapter was worth waiting for. Definitely their relationship is picking up, and I've planned a surprise for the next chapter, so please look forward to it! Thank you for the reviews, and I've always got you written in my heart. 


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